Myths of Reality
by Immortal Vorador
Summary: [missing episode] A routine misson goes terrible wrong when Sheppard and his team encounter the addicted Lt. Ford and become entangled in a web of distrust, lies and manipulation. Shweir FordOFC UST
1. Encounters

Notes: This story is basically a missing episode between "Runner" and "Duet", centering on my favorite character, Lt. Ford. Ronon won't play an important role, simply because he isn't member of the team yet (and I admit that I'm not fond of him). There are a number of allusions in the first chapter which will be explained in the course of the story, so don't panic if you don't understand something.

Feedback: Desired of course

Pairings: Sheppard/Weir and Ford/OFC

Rating: Rated for good measure (ok and for langviolsex)

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate Atlantis and probably never will.

Ok, and now I proudly present:

**Myths of Reality**:

Chapter 1: Encounters

_Superiority, the first myth of reality;  
Those who feel superior will fall to  
their underestimated foes!_

_The nature of Reality, Gith database_

Somewhere in the Pegasus Galaxy

The conference room of _Predator _seemed even more hideous to Belbe than usual, probably because Commander Gix was present. True, _Predator_ was a Wraith ship, so the disgusting design and the presence of Wraith should be a fairly normal thing, but still Gix's attendance sent shivers through her spine.

The Commander was unusually tall for a Wraith and extremely gangly, which made him appear more comical than threatening at the first glance. However, he was an excellent fighter, extremely sadistic - even for Wraith standards - and simply loved it to feed on the most powerful human beings in the galaxy. To combine pleasure and business, the gourmet had become the prime Wraith bounty hunter, eliminating those who had defied the Wraith Empire too often.

Usually Belbe and her human companions provided the necessary information for these hunts, due to the fact that Wraith simply weren't suited for gathering information. Few humans would even consider talking to someone who enjoyed eating them and torture often resulted only in the death of the questioned. In her ten years of working for Gix, Belbe had created an extremely effective network of informants, monitoring most of the inhabited worlds in this galaxy. Some of her spies knew her real identity, others were bribed or simply owned her a favor.

Currently, her task was to find a certain fascinating individual, who had the dangerous habit of killing every Wraith he encountered. It had been challenging, but after a few weeks of methodical work, she had obtained the required information. The unsettling voice of her commanding officer interrupted her private thoughts and Belbe decided to concentrate on the briefing again, even a small fault like not listening to a meeting was like ringing a dinner bell when Gix was around.

"The human managed to escape out of a cruiser single-handedly." the commander said, disapproval written on his face. "It is unknown how he evaded our security measures, but it is a fact that he killed six of our brethren in the process. He is certainly a special member of his pathetic species and I want to know what made him that formidable. It had been difficult but we have found him, now all left to do is bring him here. Necroshade Belbe will give you the details!"

Belbe noted with delight that Gix had mentioned her title; after all it had taken her years of hard work to acquire it. Necroshades were the absolute elite, the second highest rank a human could possibly reach when working for the Wraith. They were outstanding soldiers, as evasive as shadows and as inevitable as death.

She stood up and started to deliver her report: "Thank you Commander Gix, your trust honors me. I managed to gather several facts about our target, which might become useful. According to my sources, his name is Lieutenant Aiden Ford, a former member of the very same humans who controlled the City of the Ancients until a few months ago."

Several hisses interrupted her at this point, emanated by the other non-Wraith in the room. Her species was probably the only sentient one in the Galaxy who hated the Ancients more than the Wraith. But now wasn't the time to gloat at the destruction of her enemies' legacy, hence she continued her briefing.

"Out of unknown reasons Ford is trying to eliminate as many of our brethren as possible. Of course, he needs a save planet as a base of operation, probably an uninhabited one with access to the Gate. Fortunately, he visited a village recently to organize some supplies and one of my informants glimpsed the symbols that will lead us to his hideout. The only possible combination leads to the planet Arborea, which we will reach in about 20 minutes.

Once arrived, we will split into four teams; one will guard the Gate, while the other three will search the area. Remember that we want him alive, so use stunners and don't aim on vital areas with your CMGs. Any questions?"

"Yes, Necroshade!" a young human soldier said, "Why don't we just use the Gate? It would cut of any possible escape route and we could have reached Arborea much sooner."

Gix answered this question, a dangerous look on his face: "The Necroshade and I have decided to use _Predator_ because the human probably keeps an eye on the gate. If we would pass through he will likely attack us immediately which would make capturing him much more difficult.

So we have decided to launch an attack from the orbit, using our teleportation technology to start a surprise attack. Now, quit asking stupid questions and prepare everything! I want to attack as soon as we arrive!"

When Belbe left the room to gather her equipment, she felt the Wraith's eyes linger on her and wondered whether he knew her secret.

- - - - -

Lieutenant Ford's former quarter, Atlantis:

Colonel John Sheppard stood on one of Atlantis' many balconies, watching the sea below, completely lost in thoughts. The disastrous result of his last mission still haunted the Colonel. He had read the mission report at least thirty times, searching for something he could have done to help his friend, but had found nothing to sooth his burning guilt. In his opinion, Ford's addiction to the enzyme was the result of his many failures: He had failed to find him soon enough, failed to keep him in Atlantis and failed to get him back. John was determined to bring his second-in-command back at all cost, not only to help the kid but also to mollify his conscience.

"John?" a tentative voice behind him asked, "What are you doing here?"

Sheppard cursed his rotten luck, why of all people in the city had Dr. Weir found him? Any other person could be fooled by a clever remark and his trademark smile but he feared that Elizabeth would see through any bluff he tried. She was like a damned psychologist sometimes, only much sexier than the average shrink.

Truth be told, he didn't know exactly why he was here, due to it having been a sudden impulse, which had led him into these rooms. He guessed that it had been a mixture of nostalgia and remorse but couldn't be sure, simply because it's difficult to psychoanalyze yourself. Nevertheless, since he had entered the impersonal and rather chaotic quarter - apparently the siege hadn't left the Lieutenant time to clean up behind him - his mind was swimming with memories of his lost second-in-command. John had come to the conclusion that he had treated the kid more than a subordinate than a friend and added this mistake to his failure list.

But now he should think of an excuse that would satisfy Weir without revealing too much about his real motivation. He decided to tell at least part of the truth and turned around to face his would be dialogue partner, who frowned so much that her eyebrows were dangerously close to vanish in her hairline.

"I just wanted to get away from Caldwell for some time" the Colonel said matter-of-factly, "And I assumed that this would be the last place he would go. You probably know that we had another row yesterday."

"The word "row" doesn't even begin to cover that incident!" Elizabeth replied, "I have heard that you would have attacked Caldwell if Teyla hadn't held you back. You really should keep your temper in check in his presence, considering the fact that he wants to replace you as military leader of this expedition."

"That bastard accused me of being irresponsible and incompetent because I didn't kill Ford the last time we met!" John snapped, "He really expects me to murder a friend in cold blood, simply because Captain Kirk considers him a threat!"

"I agree that his fear of Lieutenant Ford is exaggerated, but John please get a grip!" Weir echoed, "It won't help Aiden at all if you get yourself degraded and besides I prefer to work with you instead of Caldwell. By the way I know that that's not the whole story: If you only wanted to avoid the Colonel there would have been dozens of places you could have gone! I just want to say that if you want to talk about it, you can come to me anytime."

"Thanks, but no, thanks," Sheppard replied, "I'll better get ready for the mission, McKay is already thrilled to examine the ruins we found on P3X475. I don't want to ruin his mood by keeping him waiting."

"One more thing, John" the expedition leader said, turning to leave, "You know that you're not allowed to enter the private rooms of your subordinates without their permission?"

"Of course, but I also know that you won't complain as long as I don't enter your quarter without permission." the Colonel echoed, a mischievous smile on his face, "By the by, why exactly do you prefer me over Caldwell?"

"I though that would be obvious," Elizabeth stated, chuckling, "If you were on my place, who would you prefer? A middle aged, balding harasser, who can't cope with failure, or a young, humorous pretty boy with an incredible sexy smile?"

Watching Weir leave, John felt completely different than before; the burning guilt had been replaced by the warm, glowing feeling of euphoria. He actually hummed to himself when he headed towards the Control Room, confident that not even McKay's antics could ruin his mood today.

- - - - -

Ford's hideout on Arborea - or Jungle Planet as he called it:

A Wraith closed in on the unarmed Lieutenant, cutting of any means of escape. With nowhere left to run, Ford chose to fight, relying on the strength the enzyme gave him. However, his opponent evaded the blows and lifted the young man up by the throat. Unable to defend himself, Sheppard's former second-in-command could only watch in horror as the Wraith plunged his claw into his chest and started to feed on him. The last thing Ford saw was that Teyla, McKay and Sheppard stood behind the Wraith, watching the gruesome spectacle impassively. The agony reached its peak when the last bit of his life force was sucked away and he awoke with a start.

Panting heavily, the Lieutenant checked his chest, regaining some of his composure when he felt only smooth skin. Nevertheless he still felt disoriented and nauseous, struck by the pure intensity of the nightmare. What was even more unsettling was that he dreamed the very same dream every night since the encounter with Sheppard on the Radiation Planet. The memory rekindled the anger he felt at his former team, which had betrayed him and forced him to enter a Wraith ship.

McKay had actually tried to kill him and the Major had intended to drag him back to Atlantis, so they could strip him of the power the enzyme granted him. He could only speculate about their motivation, though he suspected that the scientist had simply been afraid of him. After all, McKay had always been an eccentric, hypochondrias and incredibly bothersome coward; it made sense that he feared real strength.

Sheppard was a completely different matter however; Ford suspected that his ex-commanding officer was jealous of what had become of him. He probably wanted his old second-in-command back, the humble, witty Aiden Ford, who was always there to watch someone's back. Once the Lieutenant had seen Sheppard as a friend but now he had come to realize that he had been but a tool for the older man. Now, the Major feared to loose control of his puppet and all his you-have-a-problem-and-I-want-to-help-you talk was only a pretense to get him back in line.

Discarding the train of thought, he lifted himself from his makeshift bed and walked over to the other side of the small cave he used as shelter. Swiftly, he extracted the enzyme bottle from his equipment, taking a slightly higher dose than usual. Instantly his anger and the remaining confusion vanished, leaving a feeling of raw power behind. The sensation it caused was arguably the best effect of the Wraith serum, even better than the near invulnerability and super human strength. He savored the feeling for a few seconds, before grapping his jacket and weapons, intending to leave his hideout to find some breakfast.

The easy access to food was one of the advantages the Jungle Planet had to offer, it virtually bristled with life. Since arriving on the planet, Aiden had never seen the sky for a huge jungle covered most of the surface, reducing the sunlight to an eerie green glow with its canopy. The thick foliage rendered Wraith darts and Puddle Jumper useless, so anyone who wanted to catch him would have to search the jungle on foot. The Lieutenant was quite sure that he was more than capable to avoid or defeat anyone who entered his realm due to both his extraordinary fighting skills and the considerable weapon arsenal he had collected since leaving Atlantis.

An odd sound got his attention and only a few seconds later a Wraith teleport beam broke through the foliage, causing a Wraith and several armored humans to materialize around 50 meters to his left. Cursing under his breath, Aiden took cover in the brushwood, hoping to avoid confrontation until he knew how many other enemies where around. Fortunately, the raiding party didn't seem to have noticed him, enabling their target to retreat without getting into a fight.

Once he had put some distance between himself and his would-be captors, Ford paused and considered his options. He was sure that the intruders were looking for him, after all, the planet was unoccupied and Wraith weren't known for their fondness for nature. Even more unsettling was that they had just teleported right into his hideout what suggested that a Wraith ship was nearby, maybe even a hive ship. Though such a rich source of enzyme was tempting, Aiden knew that he could not battle that many Wraith and decided to flee the planet as soon as possible.

Of course, the Wraith and their human lackeys would guard his only escape route, the Stargate, carefully but they would expect him to hide somewhere in the jungle. A direct attack on the Gate might give him the advantage he needed provided that he could arrive there unnoticed. When he had reached the gate, he would dial a planet he had visited recently and shoot everyone who tried to follow him through. This strategy was simple and not very innovative but it had worked every time he had tried it and innovation was overrated anyway.

Very carefully, he made his way towards the Gate, pausing several times to make sure that no one followed him. Twice he spotted a patrol and had to redirect his route, resisting the urge to simply kill the intruders which would be a grave tactical error. The fact that the majority of his enemies were humans confused the Lieutenant. The Wraith saw humans as cattle and not as allies and he also couldn't imagine anyone who would be reckless enough to work for them. Still, there was something familiar about the clothing and the armor of the soldiers; he just couldn't put his finger on it.

It took him about half an hour to finally reach the Gate which was guarded by two Wraith and three human soldiers. Aiden noticed that while the Wraith guards carried stunners, their human companions used weapons he had never seen before. They vaguely resembled a futuristic version of a P90 and probably weren't designed to merely stun their victims. He decided to take out the humans first for he couldn't be sure that the enzyme would protect him against their weapons. Once they were neutralized the Wraith would be powerless to stop him and perhaps he would even have time to refill his enzyme supply. The Lieutenant allowed himself a small simile before launching several Wraith stunners at his targets. His shots downed two of the three humans and their last standing companion followed swiftly. Silently congratulating himself for his excellent plan, Ford not even tried to evade the stunners the Wraith guards fired at him. Instead, he killed one with a salve of his P90 and stunned the other, feeling not more than a prickling sensation when one of their shots found aim. Then he left his cover and approached the half-conscious Wraith, while extracting a knife out of his uniform.

"You really thought that you would get me with such a pathetic strategy?" he taunted his foe, placing the knife on the Wraith's right arm, "Any heroic last words? No? Good, after all I don't want to waste my time by listening to futile treats!"

Without further hesitation, he slit open his prisoner's arm and replenished his enzyme reserves before pressing a 9 mil to the Wraith's temple and pulling the trigger twice. After taking another dose of the precious liquid he dialed the Gate only to be interrupted by a stunner missing him by millimeters. He did not turn around to face his attackers but followed his original plan and ran into the event horizon.

- - - - -

P3X475 (Ruin Planet)

It turned out that John's euphoria was much more short-lived than he had thought. They had arrived on P3X475 15 minutes ago and already he was bored to death. Eons ago a huge city had been located on a plateau above the Stargate but now all that remained of this ancient metropolis were a gigantic field of overgrown ruins. The only interesting aspect of this huge amount of stones was that the Ancients once lived here, so there was a chance that valuable technology was buried here.

McKay searched the debris, constantly muttering to himself about how promising and interesting a certain find was, while Teyla and the Colonel watched his back, though John considered this security measures exaggerated due to the lack of sentient life on this planet. He also doubted that a few Ancient trinkets were worth the effort and the scientist's monologue made the procedure even more infuriating.

"Could you please work quietly for a moment, Rodney?" the irritated soldier said, "Your babbling is getting on my nerves!"

"Oh, I'm so terribly sorry if I have disturbed your definitely highly important thoughts with my dispensable work," the astrophysicist snapped, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "I'm only searching for artifacts that might save us from the Wraith, but of course that's not nearly relevant enough to distract Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard from his taxing guard duty!"

John ignored the irony, arguing with McKay would only result in staying even longer on this planet. "Apology accepted," he replied with a smirk, "Have you at least found something useful?"

"Yes, I have found this really fascinating device," the scientist replied, presenting a rather unimpressive artifact about the size of a fist, "It reminds me of the personal shield generator I activated when we had just arrived in Atlantis. What puzzles me that it has no own energy supply though its outer skin suggests that it is able to absorb energy. I have no idea what might be its purpose, it could be a different type of the shield or something that needs great amounts of energy to work properly. I'll know more once I have examined it in Atlant….."

McKay's lecture was cut short by the unmistakable sound of a dialing Stargate, which caused Teyla and John to run towards the edge of the plateau, an excellent vantage point above the Gate. While Sheppard fumbled with his binoculars the Gate opened and a familiar looking figure materialized.

"Colonel." Teyla said, confirming his suspicion. "It's Aiden! And I think someone chases him!"

With his binoculars finally in place, it took John only a few seconds to analyze the situation that unfolded beneath him. Ford had taken cover behind the remains of a wall and immediately opened fire when two humans stepped through the event horizon. One of them was hit by various bullets and went down while the other one raised his arm protectively in front of his chest. To John's and, judging from the expression of stunned disbelief on the Lieutenant's face, also Ford's surprise, a glowing field of energy deflected the attack.

In the next seconds several things happened at once: The human scrambled for cover while further enemies materialized including a towering Wraith. Ford apparently realized that he was overmatched and ran towards the ruins, dodging the stunners his attackers sent after him.

Sheppard decided that he had seen enough and faced his team again. "Ford is in trouble and obviously trying to hide somewhere in the remains of the city. He's lucky that we are here and willing to save his butt. We'll find him, rescue him and bring him back to Atlantis whether he wants it or not! Now let's get moving he'll enter the ruins west of here!"

"You can't be serious! Last time he wanted to kill me!" McKay protested only to be interrupted by Teyla.

"Aiden needs help although he doesn't realize it! It's our duty as his friends to help him and I'm sure that he would do the same thing for you. Besides, we're here to protect you this time so I doubt he'll try to kill you again."

The astrophysicist didn't look convinced at all but followed his comrades hesitantly, mumbling something about being a dead man.

- - - - -

Later, somewhere in the ruins

"That is pointless and probably will get us killed!" McKay said for about the hundredth time, "You have absolutely no idea where Ford could be and the fact that a Wraith and his human henchmen are nearby only makes it more dangerous to remain here! Why can't you accept that there is nothing we can do for Ford and that we should get away from this planet as fast as possible?"

"If you don't stop bitching around," John snarled, "I'll shoot you right here simply to shut you up! I don't expect you to understand this, but I feel responsible for the kid and I certainly won't leave him here! Now SHUT UP and concentrate on finding Ford!"

The scientist's angry retorted was stifled by Teyla's yelp and the distinct sound of someone hitting the ground. Cursing McKay, Sheppard realized that the Athosian had been oblivious to their little discussion and had disappeared from view. Apparently someone had ambushed her while he had argued with Rodney and subdued her. Silently he moved towards Teyla's last position, hoping to surprise whoever threatened her. The identity of the attacker became obvious when a familiar and slightly confused voice spoke:

"Teyla? What are you doing here?"

"That was not the greeting I expected from you, Aiden" Teyla replied, sounding annoyed, "Would you mind to stop aiming at me before we continue talking?"

In the meantime John had caught up to the Athosian and quickly considered his options. Teyla laid on her back while Ford aimed with his P90 on her, taking no notice of the Colonel's arrival. He could either attack Ford to rescue his team member or he could try to reason with his former second-in-command. He chose to remain hidden and leave the talking to Teyla, ready to interfere should the situation get out of hand. McKay seemed to guess his intentions for the scientist remained unusually quiet and even managed not to attract the Lieutenant's attention.

To John's relief, Ford lowered his gun and pulled Teyla back to her feet. "Sorry about that," he said, "I didn't expect to encounter anyone on this planet who doesn't want to kill me. But you still haven't answered my question!"

"We were searching the ruins for artifacts when you came through the Gate," the Athosian echoed, "We thought you needed help so we started looking for you. Somehow I got separated from Colonel Sheppard and Dr. McKay and walked right into your ambush."

The moment Teyla said his name John knew that it had been a mistake for Ford stiffened and began checking his surroundings. It took him only a few seconds to realize that someone was behind him and to guess who it could be. He turned around to face his former CO a dangerous look on his face.

"Hello Major," the Lieutenant said, his features twisted in a scowl. "How nice of you to join us so I can finally pay you back for this bullet of yours!"

"I told you it was a bad idea," McKay cried out, "But no, you had to search for him and now we're as good as dead!"

John ignored him and took a closer look at Ford instead while contemplating his answer. His former second-in-command looked much more battered than the last time they had met. Makeshift bandages were tied around his leg and left arm, though nothing indicated that Ford still felt the pain the injuries caused. He also looked thinner and exhausted but his outrageously risky escape plan didn't seem to have caused permanent damage. Sheppard also noticed that the Aiden's head was bare which was surprising considering the Lieutenant's fondness of caps.

"It's Colonel now, Lieutenant," he stated, "And it's good to see you alive. I must admit that I was worried that you wouldn't make it out of this dart!"

"The Wraiths are only half as dangerous if you are immune to their stunners," Ford replied, looking quite pleased with himself. "But now you should give me a reason not to kill you for your betrayal!"

"Aiden," Teyla interrupted, "We only want to help you. The enzyme may strengthen you but it makes you dependant on killing Wraith. They already hunt you and without help you won't evade them forever. Be reasonable and come with us to Atlantis where you will be safe!"

Ford didn't look convinced but John guessed that at least a part of him wanted to believe them. So he decided to come to Teyla's aid:

"She's right, Ford! If you come with us voluntarily I'm sure that Dr. Weir will welcome you back with open arms. That's your chance of regaining everyone's trust! Everything could be as it was; I would even get you back into my team! All you have to do is to come with us!"

"I KNEW it!" the Lieutenant snapped, "That's all you care about! You only want to get me back in line so I can do the donkeywork for you! Do you really think I would enjoy being your puny second-in-command again? I cannot believe that I once considered you a friend! I was so damned loyal that if you had ordered me to lick your boots, I would have done it! I was so naïve and pathetic! But now I see through your lies! You're jealous and afraid of what I have become so you'd love it to strip me of my new power! Now, I'll make sure that your constant meddling will stop once and for all! Consider it the payback for the bullet you drove through my leg!"

Sheppard watched in horror as Aiden raised his P90 and aimed directly at the Colonel's heart, a mad determination on his face.


	2. A temporary reprieve

Chapter 2: A temporary reprieve

_Luck, the second myth of reality;  
skill determines our success and  
not a mysterious, unseen force!_

_The nature of Reality, Gith database_

Three words echoed through John's mind over and over again as his former second-in-command aimed at him: 'This isn't happening'. He had expected to die while defending Atlantis from the Wraith or maybe in an accident caused by one of McKay's experiments but certainly not this way. Even in his numbed state he searched for a way out of this mess though

he knew that his chances of cheating death this time were slim indeed.

The expression of pure hatred on Ford's face and the mad twinkle in his eyes made clear that every further attempt of reasoning with the Lieutenant was pointless, though Teyla tried it anyway. Ford ignored her but the fact that he seemed hesitant to end his former CO's life was a sliver of hope but it was possible that he was only savoring the moment. John contemplated whether there was a way to overpower the marine without getting shot in the process, when an unknown voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Settling a score, Aiden?" a woman who had apparently materialized out of thin air asked, "I must admit that I never considered you to be the vengeful type!"

Ford whirled around to face the speaker, his expression changing from irritation to shock within seconds.

"Belbe?" he said, looking as though he had seen a ghost.

Belbe was a stunning looking woman with long curly brown hair, jade-colored eyes and a definitely mischievous smile on her lips. She wore an armor made of a silky black material and a matching cloak, though the two of them seemed more practical than protective. The most remarkable pieces of clothing were her crystal-inlaid gauntlets and an amulet both looking more like devices than garments. Under other circumstances John might have considered her attractive but he had the nagging suspicion that this woman would cause enormous amounts of trouble.

"The very same," Belbe replied, bowing low, "Though I suspect that you won't enjoy this meeting as much as the last one!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ford asked, looking suspicious, "And what are you doing here?"

"Straight to the point, huh?" the woman echoed, her amused expression fading, "Ok, let's get professional than! Your extraordinary abilities got the attention of my master who ordered me to find and capture you. On Arborea you managed to evade us – quite impressing show by the way – but this time you won't slip out of my grip. My men are getting into position while we are talking, cutting of any means of escape! I'm sure Gix is already dieing to meet you and like all Wraith he can get quite unpleasant when kept waiting!"

Before anyone could react Belbe's amulet flashed and the bounty hunter faded from view while heading towards the ruins that surrounded the open space which had almost become John's grave. The unmistakable sound of Wraith stunners broke the silence and the team ran from cover to cover, dodging the projectiles while trying to find a way out of the plaza. After a few very narrow dodges, Sheppard noticed a path that led back into the labyrinth of ruined buildings about 500 meters away. He pointed it out to his teammates and ordered that Teyla and McKay would go first while he and Ford would watch their backs. To his surprise no one – not even Ford – disagreed, apparently they all understood how serious their situation was.

"That's quite enough hide and seek!" Belbe yelled somewhere behind them, sounding seriously annoyed, "Use your CMGs, the debris won't shield them against this kind of projectile!"

How exactly these CMGs should render their cover useless was made clear a few seconds later when one shot blasted through the wall they were hiding behind as well as through Ford's leg, knocking the soldier to the ground. Cursing, John fell back to help the Lieutenant back to his feet while Teyla and McKay continued their flight. Three stunners missed the Colonel narrowly and hit McKay instead who had just turned around, probably to tell him that he should hurry up. The artifact in the astrophysicist's hands lighted up and a blue light enveloped everything.

- - - - -

If she had actually believed in it, Belbe would be convinced that she had an unusually nasty streak of bad luck. Her carefully prepared and foolproof plan had been foiled by an Ancient trinket, which had probably teleported her targets to another part of the ruined city. To say that she was frustrated would have been the understatement of the century, she was angry enough to murder the next person who crossed her path.

"What are you waiting for?" she snapped, addressing her confused looking subordinates, "Find them! They can't be far away!"

"I must admit that I'm disappointed, Necroshade!" Gix' cold voice said, "You have failed me twice in a row what is unacceptable! Either our foes are much more capable than we have thought or you deliberately undermine the operation!"

Her anger vanished instantly and she realized that she needed to come up with an excuse that would soothe Gix' anger before the Wraith decided that she was expendable.

"The plan was perfect, Commander" she replied, trying to sound apologetic, "I had no way of knowing that they possessed an artifact that would allow them to escape and I would have nothing to gain from helping them!"

"I'm sure that you are hiding something, Belbe!" the Commander stated, a wicked grin on his face, "And now I'll find out which secrets are buried in this head of yours!"

When Gix lifted her by the throat and began using his telepathy to search her mind for traces of treachery, Belbe decided to make a desperate gamble that hopefully would get her out of this mess. Though she had the means to free herself and to stop the telepathic onslaught, she knew that using them would only confirm the Wraith's suspicions. Instead she allowed him to glimpse at least part of the truth, hoping that he wouldn't see through her bluff. The first part of her plan seemed to work out perfectly, for Gix released her and stopped probing her mind. Panting, the Necroshade dropped to her knees, wondering what would happen next.

"You have exactly 30 seconds to explain yourself, Necroshade!" the Wraith said, "Why did you keep this information from me?"

"I didn't consider it necessary," Belbe croaked, "I told you all I know, the fact that I met the human in person was irrelevant!"

"Why didn't you eliminate this Lieutenant Ford when you had the chance?" her interrogator inquired, "He was hurt and it was quite obvious that he belonged to the humans who tried to defend the city of our foes!"

"I had various reasons," the bounty hunter stated, having regained some of her composure, "My task was to gather information, killing another human would have endangered this goal. Besides, I though he would end up dead anyway without allies or a place to hide! So I collected the required information and left! Of course, I would have acted differently if I had known that he would cause that much trouble!"

"I'm impressed, Belbe!" Gix said, "You've just earned yourself a temporary reprieve but if you fail me again, I won't be as forgiving! Now, get back to the Gate and make sure they can't escape. I'll take most of your men and continue the search of the city!"

Simple guard duty was of course far below her level though the Necroshade knew that any kind of protest would end this 'reprieve' prematurely. She had been extremely lucky that Gix hadn't glimpsed what really happened on this planet for this piece of information would have sealed her fate. When she made her way back to the Gate, she allowed herself a sigh of relieve, making a mental note never to get in this kind of situation again.

- - - - -

Somewhere in the ruins

The blue light faded and once Aiden's eyes had recovered from the blinding flash he realized that they had somehow entered another part of the ancient metropolis. He and his former teammates had appeared in what looked like the remains of a laboratory whose walls had collapsed under the weight of the ages.

"Now that's strange!" Sheppard stated, "Any idea what has happened, Rodney?"

"There are two possible explanations," McKay, who to everyone's surprise hadn't been stunned, replied, "The artifact was activated by the Wraith stunners' energy and the fact that we are somewhere else suggests two things: Either we're dead and in some kind of afterlife or we have found and used a miniature version of a teleporter."

"Let's just assume that it is a teleporter," the Colonel said, apparently considering McKay's other thesis ridiculous, "Can you reactivate it and get us back to the Gate?"

Aiden tuned out the scientist's angry retort about not being MacGyver and the argument that followed, intending to care for his leg and to do some thinking. The recent events had shattered his drug-induced confidence and had left him unsure whether he had misjudged his comrades. They had come to his aid when Belbe tried to capture him even though he had treated them so badly. Without McKay's trinket he would probably be in the hand of the Wraith by now, waiting for a certain and painful death.

Before continuing this disturbing train of thought, he sat down and examined his leg. The projectile had hit exactly the same spot as Sheppard's bullet had three weeks ago, only that this new wound was much smaller than the half-healed original one. He sterilized and bandaged the injury before gingerly testing his leg, feeling elated when it supported his weight without complains. Probably the impact of the bullet had caused him to stumble and not the seriousness of the wound, after all it had blasted right through a wall before entering his flesh. He shakily got back to his feet and wondered whether to get to Gate on his own or to ally with his former teammates. Before the near fatal encounter with Belbe his choice would have been clear but right now he had many questions concerning his friends.

Was it friendship driving them and not fear or jealousy? Would they welcome him back with open arms and perhaps even see the benefits of the enzyme? Could he trust them or would they backstab him like they did on Radiation Planet? But perhaps the most important question was whether he could afford not to trust them?

Aiden made his decision and concentrated on the discussion between McKay and Sheppard again, which apparently had come to an end.

"To make a long lecture that was probably far above your horizon short," the scientist said, "I don't have enough energy to reactivate the device and even if I could it is unlikely that it will teleport us to Gate. I suspect that it functions exactly like an Atlantis teleporter so it can only get us to a few fixed places and this is probably one of them, so we'll just have to walk to the Gate what is presumably easier than tinkering with the artifact anyway."

"Thanks for you expert opinion" the irritated Sheppard snapped, "The problem is that we have no idea in which direction the Gate is located!"

"I happen to know these ruins quite will, sir" Aiden interrupted, "The Gate is about 3 miles southeast of our current position."

The look on the Colonel's face was priceless and McKay seemed to be similar astonished by his statement. Teyla gave him a warm smile that sent a shiver through his body; he definitely had a crush on the beautiful Athosian though he knew that she had only eyes for Sheppard.

"Ok, Ford, you have managed to surprise me again," his former commanding officer said, "10 minutes ago you wanted to kill me and now you're calling me 'sir' again? Don't get me wrong it is a pleasant surprise, but what made you change your mind?"

"Ironically Belbe saved your life," the Lieutenant explained, "I was determined to kill you and probably also McKay for trying to kill me! But you risked your life to help me and I wouldn't have made it without you, so I guess we're even. Besides we need each other if we want to get away from this planet alive! I suggest that we avoid confrontation until we have reached the Gate, overpower the guards and dial out while most of them search the city for us."

"Sounds good," Sheppard replied, ignoring McKay's are-you-nuts-he-is-crazy look, "But before we march out I want to hear everything you know about Belbe!"

"Well, that's kind of private," Ford said, feeling his face go red.

"We're all adults here Lieutenant, I'm sure we can take the juicy details," the Colonel stated, guessing the reason for his embarrassment, "And we need as much information as possible about our enemies."

"Ok, ok" Aiden replied, "I'll tell you though the woman I knew was completely different to the bounty hunter who hunts me. I met her a few days after I had left Atlantis….."

Old memories resurfaced when he started his tale and the whole story seemed to unfold before his inner eye…….

- - - - -

_Lieutenant Aiden Ford ate his stew in silence, feeling miserable and lonely. It had been three days since he had been forced to flee from Atlantis, three long, exhausting days he had spent thinking about his former friends. Their cowardice would have killed him, it had been necessary to leave but still their betrayal had hurt the Lieutenant more than he had expected. He couldn't help but wonder whether he would return to Atlantis one day – if it still existed- and what would happen if he actually met some of his former comrades. _

_Ironically, he seemed to be the only one in a radius of 25 miles who wasn't cheerful for the inhabitants of this planet celebrated some kind of midsummer festival and had invited him to join the festivities. Though he wasn't in the mood, the prospect of free food and shelter had made him accept their offer. It had been a rather unpleasant evening for the villagers had tried to make conversation only to flinch when they saw his blackened eye. By now, they left the irritated soldier alone and concentrated on getting as drunk as possible, which was completely fine with him. Lost in his dark musings, he stared into the campfire before him and was oblivious to the fact that someone approached him. _

"_Seems like I'm not the only killjoy here," a voice behind him said, "That's good to know because it's simply infuriating when everyone around you is so outrageously cheerful that they don't even realize that you want to speak to them!"_

_Furious, Aiden turned around but his angry retort died on his lips when he saw who had addressed him. The speaker was a beautiful woman who seemed to be as much out of place as he was for she wasn't drunk, dancing or engaged in some kind of sexual activity. Her clothes, which, except for a magnificent black cloak, were simple and worn out marked her as a traveler who probably had stumbled into the celebration much as Ford had. He noted with growing interest that she wasn't repulsed by his mismatched features and had the impression that she was checking him out._

"_I'm Belbe of Shakuras," the woman said, "Originally, I've come here to trade but I guess I'll have to wait until my partners have sobered up. I was beginning to worry that everyone on this planet is too drunk to even notice that I'm here."_

"_Lieutenant Aiden Ford," Aiden replied, "Of nowhere in particular."_

"_What a mysterious answer." Belbe responded, frowning "I enjoy solving puzzles but it seems like you're the only sober person in the village so I would prefer a real conversation over allusions."_

_Despite himself, Aiden answered her question "I had to leave my home a few days ago to save my life. Probably the Wraith destroyed it, so I don't have a home right now."_

_A strange look crossed Belbe's eyes at this point and she seemed lost in thoughts for a moment. He wasn't sure what she felt this instant, was it compassion, sadness or … envy? Why should she envy someone who has just lost his home and his friends to the Wraith? Before he could solve the mystery the moment passed and the trader snapped out of her thoughts._

"_I'm sorry for your loss," she stated, "My people have suffered greatly under the Wraith, so I can understand your grief. I didn't want to bring up a sore subject, Lieutenant."_

"_It's ok," Aiden replied, "I was thinking about it anyway. And please, call me Aiden; my rank probably won't matter anymore. I was lucky to get away unscratched, for the most part at least."_

"_I trade medical supplies" Belbe stated, "They probably won't restore your eye but I can take a look at your shoulder if you want."_

_Ford was surprised that she knew about his newest injury. He had run into a Genii patrol yesterday and one bullet had hit his right shoulder. Due to the enzyme he didn't feel any pain but his shoulder still felt awkward and he had trouble moving. He had the suspicion that part of the projectile was still buried in his flesh though he hadn't been able to find it. So he decided to accept Belbe's offer, took of his shirt and told her to get going. _

_His suspicion that the trader wanted more than a decent conversation increased tenfold when she examined his shoulder, definitely enjoying the sight of his naked torso. _

"_This might hurt now," she said after a few minutes, producing a knife out of her cloak "I'm going to remove a splinter that's stuck in there. Just hold still and let me do my work."_

_It took her only a few moments to finish the operation and to patch up the wound with fresh bandages. Almost instantly, his shoulder felt much better and he reached for his shirt only to be stopped by Belbe._

"_If you're wondering how to thank me," she purred, "I have a great idea and you won't need that for it!"_

_Without waiting for him to respond, she leaned forward and kissed him passionately. Immediately reason listed several reasons why he shouldn't do this: He hardly knew that woman, he couldn't trust her, and he should know from experience that beautiful alien women are a guaranty for trouble. However, he hadn't seen any action since having arrived on Atlantis – damn Sheppard, who always managed to get the attention of all hot women within a 100 mile radius – and no sane man would decline an offer like that. So, he kissed her back and pulled her closer while fumbling with her clothes which were quite difficult to get off. _

_Her lips left his and wandered towards his neck, licking and caressing the skin in the process. Aiden squirmed when Belbe found an extremely sensitive spot and tried even harder to get rid of the trader's clothes. The sound of the villager's voices broke through the curtain of lust that surrounded them and both agreed that they should find a more private spot to continue this encounter. _

_Without breaking the contact they moved towards one of the huts that served as shelter for visitors and were probably deserted right now. Belbe pushed him onto the makeshift but comfortable bed and finally removed her cloak as well as most of her upper garments. Aiden paused a moment to study her flawless, pale skin and perfect body before pulling her down for another passionate kiss. Her lips started to wander downwards again, tracing every muscle of his chest before caressing his navel. With a mischievous smile Belbe undid his pants and boxers, while moving teasingly close to his erection. _

"_Quit teasing!" Aiden growled after a few moments of this frustrating game._

"_You should know that patience is a virtue," she chuckled, apparently enjoying her game, "But now, just wait and let me do my work!"_

_He could only groan when she ran her tongue down his length before engulfing his penis with her mouth. It was the best blowjob of his life and he knew that he wouldn't last long this way so he soon flipped their position and began concentrating on satisfying Belbe's needs. He slowly worked his way down her body, removing the rest of her clothing and caressing every centimeter of her skin in the process. The trader moaned in pleasure when he sucked one of her nipples and urged him to take care of her lower regions. Aiden was determined to make her pay for teasing him, so he moved extremely slowly towards this new destination and was rewarded by a frustrated groan._

"_You have made your point!" Belbe gasped, "Now, please, get on with it!"_

_Satisfied, the Lieutenant obeyed her and began to explore her velvet softness with his tongue, making her squirm with pleasure. Soon a hand grasped his hair and pulled her upwards to face Belbe again. _

"_That was very promising," she purred, running a hand down his neck, "Now, we should move on to the main attraction of this evening!"_

_Aiden followed her suggestion and slowly entered her before picking up speed, kissing and nuzzling her neck in the process. The two of them lost themselves in the waves of pleasures that shook their bodies, every rational thought purged from their minds. Both climaxed simultaneously and collapsed on the makeshift bed. Aiden had never the type who dozed off right after pulling out of his partner but the enzyme had made the whole encounter far more intensive and also ten times more exhausting. So sleep claimed him and he didn't realize that the strange look had returned to Belbe's eyes_.

- - - - -

"When I woke up the next morning she was gone," he finished – having left out the too juicy details of course – "I didn't expect to see her again, especially not as a bounty hunter who works for the Wraith."

"You military guys are unbelievable!" McKay said, "You go around and lay every alien woman you can find, always getting yourself and innocent bystanders into trouble. You really should consider thinking with your head instead of your dick; it would make thinks much easier!"

Sheppard interrupted at this point, stifling Ford's angry retort: "First, she rather laid him than the other way around. Second, I don't think she hunts him out of that reason, so I would appreciate it if you could suppress your jealousy until we're safe again."

"I have thought about what Aiden told us," Teyla said, preventing the start of another argument, "And I suspect that Belbe is a Gith! It would explain why she works for the Wraith!"

"You cannot be serious!" McKay protested, "You could also claim that she is the Bogeyman or the Yeti! There must be another explanation!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" the Colonel inquired.

"There are rumors among my people," Teyla stated, ignoring McKay's protests, "Few listen to these dark stories for they believe that even thinking of them is a bad omen. One of them claims that not all Ancestors were brave enough to fight the Wraith. Some of them surrendered and became their slaves, abandoning all they hold dear to save their lives. They are called the Gith and supposed to be everywhere, killing everyone who might be able to defy the Wraith. I never believed in these stories but for all we know Belbe could be a Gith, it would explain why she works for the Wraith."

"This is ridiculous!" the scientist replied, "There is no evidence that the Gith exist at all! I found no trace of them in the Atlantis database and we shouldn't waste our time with fairy tales. We should get moving before they find us for I am not eager to meet this crazy woman again no matter why she hunts us."

"I don't like it but I have to agree with McKay at this point!" John said, "Ford, you take point and lead us to the Gate, McKay and Teyla will follow you and I'll guard our six. Let's hope that our friends are still busy with searching the ruins!"

- - - - -

Later, a plateau overlooking the Gate

Despite his mental instability, Ford turned to be a reliable guide and the reached the Gate without incidents, much to Sheppard's relief. It was encouraging that the Lieutenant had given up his claim for revenge, though John wasn't sure how far this new trust would extend. He could only hope that it would last until they had left this planet for the prospect that they were possibly fighting direct ascendants of the Ancients was unsettling enough. McKay was convinced that the Gith were only a legend but the unpleasant experience with the Iratus Bug had painfully reminded John that some legends actually were true and the superior equipment Belbe had used hinted that she was much more than a simple mercenary.

At the moment, the team had gathered on a plateau similar to the one they had occupied when Ford had crossed the event horizon. John's former second-in-command crouched close to the edge, scanning the area for the best way to approach the Gate while Teyla and the Colonel watched his back. McKay spent his time examining the artifact and throwing suspicious glances at Ford, apparently still convinced that allying with the renegade marine had been a grave and possible deadly error. After a few minutes of observation, the Lieutenant abandoned his vantage point, returned to his comrades and delivered his report:

"There are only four guards at the Gate, a Wraith and three humans," he said, handing the binoculars to Sheppard, "though it might get difficult to overpower them. They took cover between the ruins that surround the Gate, ready to attack everyone who approaches them. A frontal assault would be fatal, especially because the humans carry those CMGs instead of stunners."

"Is there a way how we could break through their defense?" the Colonel asked, after having observed the situation himself.

"Not as long as they stay there," Ford replied, "But if we could lure them up here, I sure that I could take them out."

McKay snorted: "Oh, sure and afterwards you'll storm a hive ship armed with only a knife! And of course they'll leave their secure positions and walk into your obvious trap; you're Super Ford after all. The enzyme must have inflated your ego otherwise you wouldn't have come up with a stupid idea like this!"

A sly smile spread on the Lieutenant's face: "You're lucky McKay for you will play a crucial part in the plan. Just trust me and make sure that you grab the edge in time!"

To say that John was surprised when Ford pushed the scientist towards the edge of the plateau would be a hell of an understatement. The weathered stone collapsed under his weight, sending both rubble and McKay on a one-way journey towards the ground. Fortunately Teyla reacted fast enough and grabbed the scientist's arm sparing him a probably deadly fall. While she busied herself with pulling the panicking astrophysicist back up, Sheppard whirled around to ask Ford what the hell he was doing but the Lieutenant had already vanished into the ruins.

Suddenly it dawned him what his former second-in-command had intended with nearly killing McKay and he checked on the guards again only to find out that they had noticed their presence and had apparently decided to check the ruins. Ford used them as bait to lure the enemies up here, oblivious to the fact that he brought his friends in grave danger. John hated being used as bait though he had to admit that the first part of the renegade's plan had worked out perfectly. He could only hope that they would survive the second part for their current position offered almost no cover.

"Hurry up Teyla!" he said, "We're getting company! Get McKay's ass back up here while I watch out for the bad guys."

He didn't wait for Teyla to respond but moved behind a nearby boulder, fully aware of the fact that it wouldn't protect him against a CMG projectile. Still it was better than nothing and at least would allow him to make the first strike. He had just begun to crouch behind his improvised shield when he heard soft footsteps approaching. He waited until they were very close before making a roll to his left and immediately opening fire. His target, one of the human guards, had only enough time to raise his weapon before a torrent of bullets ended his life. However, the risky move had left Sheppard in an extremely vulnerable position, right in front of a second human who had presumably watched his comrade's back. Before the soldier could exploit his opponent's vulnerability, Teyla came to the Colonel's help, cutting his would-be killer down with a salve of her P90.

"Excellent timing Teyla!" John gasped, "I really should stop taking such enormous risks!"

"Drop your weapons, human!" a cold voice – probably belonging to a Wraith – behind him said, "One wrong move and you're dead!"

John knew that there was no way to subdue the Wraith so he did as he was told, cursing his bad luck in the process. However, his streak of bad luck seemed to be quite short-lived for the sound of a Wraith stunner broke the silence and two bodies hit the ground right behind him.

"See?" Ford said, while climbing down the overgrown pillar he had used as a hideout, "I told you that it would be easy to take them out up here. Now, let's get to the Gate, they have probably called for reinforcements!"

"Your easy plan almost killed me!" McKay protested, having finally rejoined his comrades.

"It had to look like an accident or they would have recognized the trap," Ford replied, grinning broadly, "Besides, I knew that Teyla or the Colonel would come to your aid. Don't be so whiny because you had to take a small risk! No pain, no gain, you know!"

"Can we continue this discussion on another planet?" John asked, getting back to his feet, "I've had my share of close battles for today!"

- - - - -

McKay was still shocked when they had reached the Stargate, though the sight of the device that would get him out of this madness soothed his nerves a bit. Ford really was crazy! His stupid plan could have killed the best scientist in the Pegasus Galaxy, dooming the whole expedition in the process. Rodney was convinced that without him, it would be only a matter of time until Atlantis was destroyed in some kind of unforeseeable catastrophe which seemed to happen at least every two weeks.

And always Rodney McKay had been the knight in the shiny armor, rescuing everyone with the brilliant ideas that emerged from his extraordinary mind. It would have been more than tragic if the smartest being within a radius of about 20 million light years would have died simply to get the attention of a few guards!

Sheppard's interrupted the astrophysicist's train of thought: "Ok, Teyla dial Atlantis and get us out of here while I'll make sure that we're undisturbed!"

The order was music to McKay's ears while Ford seemed oddly troubled by the prospect of getting away from this damned planet.

"Perhaps we should dial another planet before returning to Atlantis to wipe away our traces," he suggested, "I know the address of some uninhabited planets we could use as a temporary hideout."

"You should come with us to Atlantis, Aiden," she said softly, apparently considering his suggestion as a pretense, "It's not safe out here with Belbe hunting you!"

"I know but I'm not sure if it is safe for me in Atlantis either! I just need more time to…." Ford started before stopping suddenly, a confused look on his face, "Did one of you just run a hand down my neck?"

Before anyone could respond to this odd question Sheppard returned from his scouting trip with promising news.

"Seems like we're lucky," he stated, "No signs of Belbe or her lackeys but I would like to be back on Atlantis when they return!"

"Luck is only a myth!" Belbe's voice said, "And yours ran out right now!"

A familiar sound followed her statement and everything went black.

- - - - -

Belbe allowed herself a small smile when she pocketed the crystal which now held the life signatures of her four now dematerialized targets. Voidstones were a resource she rarely used both because they were extremely rare and had several severe drawbacks but desperate times required desperate measures. Basically they were a tiny version of a Wraith transporter, being able to store the life signatures of up to six humanoids. This grade of miniaturization required a small and efficient power supply which usually became exhausted after the first use and couldn't be replaced or restored.

Gix' cold voice emanated from her equivalent for a radio, demanding immediate report. Chuckling, she obeyed the Wraith's command already imaging his reaction when he learned how exactly she had subdued the humans.

"Good news, Commander!" she said, "I stopped them before they could escape through the Gate. All four of them are now in my mercy!"

"Excellent work Necroshade," Gix replied, dark triumph in his voice, "Dial Arborea and get them on board of _Predator_!"

"I'm afraid that's not possible, Commander!" the Necroshade stated, trying to keep the malicious joy out of her voice – frustrating Gix while being out of his reach was so much fun –, "I had to use a voidstone in order to capture them!"

It took the Wraith a while to respond and she was sure that a hint of anger had crept into his voice: "Very well. Dial the City of Traitors and have them re-materialized there! I'll return to _Predator_ and will join you in around 36 hours. Make sure that no one questions them until I come for them!"

Belbe's mind was already spinning with possibilities: The facts that _Predator_ was to big to travel through the Gate and that only the City of Traitors had the required equipment to restore persons who are trapped in voidstones, offered her a unique chance. An insidious plan began to unfold, a plan that would be outrageously risk but even more rewarding should everything work out. Surprised by her own cunningness, she turned around and began to dial out, caressing the voidstone in the process.

"Don't worry, Aiden!" she said, "you won't become Gix' toy! I have other plans for you and your cunning friends!"


	3. The City of Traitors

Chapter 3: The City of Traitors

_Freedom, the third myth of reality;  
freedom of choice is only an illusion  
so true freedom can never be reached! _

_The nature of Reality, Gith database _

Shakuras, the City of Traitors

Most people enjoy coming home, eager to meet their loved ones and feeling secure in the familiar surroundings. Belbe definitely didn't belong to this group for she loathed visiting her home, the City of Traitors, and had no loved ones to visit. As soon as she crossed the event horizon a chill went through her body and every feeling of triumph or security she had felt vanished. She didn't know why but everything on this side of the Gate had an unsettling and disturbing effect on her, resulting in the constant urge to make sure that no one sneaked up on her.

She scolded herself for being an irrational fool, after all she had spent most of her life here, had nothing to fear at the moment and should concentrate on the task Gix' had given her. Two soldiers approached her, looking quite disturbed by her arrival. Their discomfort was understandable for she had arrived unannounced and on her own, making her look quite suspicious for few Gith were allowed to leave Shakuras without being accompanied by Wraith. Not wanting to waste valuable time with young, overeager guards, she pulled the signet that marked her as a Necroshade out of her cloak and handed it to them.

"Necroshade Belbe of the Unseen," she said, "I'm here on an important mission for Commander Gix!"

"Negator Darius of the Enforcer," one of the soldiers replied, after having examined her insignia, "I apologize, Necroshade, but we didn't expect anyone to arrive tonight. How may we serve you?"

"The persons within this voidstone have to be rematerialized," she responded, glad that she wouldn't have to waste valuable time with this, "They are to be imprisoned but Gix had ordered that no one is allowed to interrogate them expect himself. And tell Highexecuter Veldrin that I want to speak with him as soon as possible."

The young soldier nodded and left immediately while his companion continued his silent vigil over the inert Stargate, a task that was pointless in Belbe's opinion. No one could enter the City of Traitors without a Gith signet as long as the thought of crushing into an energy shield didn't appeal to the traveler. The signets were imprinted one their wearer so they couldn't be stolen or used by an unauthorized person and the fact that only a handful of Gith had access to those signets made this waste of manpower even more puzzling. She also suspected that similar methods had been taken to prevent anyone from leaving the City without the Wraith's permission though she had never tested this belief. Why did the Enforcer, whose main task was to maintain order on Shakuras, wasted soldiers, even high ranked officers like Negators, with such pointless work? Perhaps the brutes – like most Unseen she regarded the Enforcer as somehow crude and dim-witted – took pride in the fact that they were allowed to approach the Gate, considering it a sign of affection by their harsh masters.

Pushing these interesting but unimportant thoughts aside, she made her way to one of the cities many balconies, confident that Darius would catch up to her when he had fulfilled his duties. Even to her the sight that offered was breathtaking for the Gate room was located in one of the highest buildings of the City of Traitors, enabling her to overview the caldera that housed her home.

Night had fallen on Shakuras, the Null Moon had vanished and the Jade Moon was rising, bathing everything in a soft emerald light. The high buildings of the City glittered in the strange light – whose color, as far as she knew, came from a specific gas within the moon's atmosphere –, radiating grace and indestructible beauty. It amazed Belbe how much of the city was still intact though during the last 10000 years fate had been less than gentle to it and its inhabitants.

When the Ancients had learned that their brethren on Shakuras wanted to surrender to Wraith in order to save themselves, they had intended to make sure that the Wraith would gain nothing out of this bargain. They had attacked their own people, determined to destroy any knowledge or technology that would be useful for their enemies. The Gith had been able to ward off the attack but not before the Ancients had destroyed great parts of the city, all their ships, deleted great parts of their database as well as stolen all ZPMs that weren't part of the orbital fortress Panopticon. This day, the Extinction, had plunged the Gith society into chaos and had been the prelude to a 9845 years civil war which had cost thousands of lives and had devastated great parts of Shakuras.

Even now, more than 10000 years after the Extinction, the Gith still paid the price of their betrayal – or, as Belbe put it, the price of their survival – for the Wraith controlled Panopticon and with it also the City of Traitors. The orbital fortress was equipped with one of the most powerful weapons ever built, the Gith Ray Cannon, and was capable of obliterating about 90 of Shakuras with one shot. Originally it had been designed as defense against the very same creatures that controlled it now but it hadn't been completed in time to stop the Wraith fleet from reaching the planet. Now, Panopticon was a mockery, a constant reminder of the fact that the Gith were slaves who would be destroyed as soon as their masters considered it necessary, part of the prize the Gith paid to survive.

The price of survival, Belbe had paid it often enough. The Wraith used Shakuras not only as a supply for loyal spies but also as a feeding ground from time to time. These cullings were not nearly as severe as on other planets and much carefully planned, killing only those who had no other virtue for the Wraith. The best way to avoid this fate was to become as useful for them as possible, making sure that they had more to gain if they wouldn't eat you. Out of that reason Belbe had become one of their agents, determined to do everything in order to survive and – as a long-term goal – to regain her freedom. Though almost 20 years had past since she had made this vow, now was the first real opportunity to reach this goal. It was a unique chance and if she made the right moves at the right time not only herself but all Gith would be free from their chains and the Wraith would finally pay for their arrogance.

She reconsidered the plan for about the thousand time and was surprised to feel a sudden pang of guilt when she thought about the role Aiden and his friends would play in it. She had treated the Lieutenant very badly by capturing him in order to save her own life and now she planned to use him as a pawn in the deadly chess match she intended to play against the Wraith. Perhaps there would be another way, a way that wouldn't get him into danger, maybe she should just leave Shakuras and flee to an uninhabited planet, preferably with him . . .

It took her only a few moments to realize how foolish these thoughts were: If she left Shakuras the Wraith would search the whole galaxy for her, never stopping until they had found and executed her. There was no alternative to her plan and she should concentrate on getting all objects into motion instead of acting like the protagonist in one of these sappy stories she had heard on several other planets. Aiden was a fling, no more and no less, and she really should get a grip before making a grave mistake that would ruin everything she had planned.

"Necroshade?" Darius said, having returned from his errands, "The Highexecuter will see you now."

Belbe abandoned her vantage point and made her way towards Veldrin's office, wondering what she would do if the Highexecutor was more loyal to the Wraith than she had thought.

- - - - -

Atlantis

Dr. Weir paced her office nervously, waiting for the rescue team to return. Colonel Sheppard and his team were 6 hours overdue, something that occurred quite too often, but she had the distinct feeling that whatever was keeping them this time was even more serious than usual. Her mind was filled with scenarios what could have happened to them, one more terrible than the other, and she was unable to concentrate on the translation that was spread out in front of her. Finally the sound of the dialing Stargate interrupted her dark musing and she went into the Gate room immediately, praying that they would be among the travelers. However, her hopes were crushed as soon as she entered the room for only Major Lorne and his teammates had made it back to Atlantis, looking exhausted and discouraged.

"No traces of Colonel Sheppard's team, Ma'am," Lorne stated before she could say anything, "We searched the whole ruins but haven't found them. I doubt that they're still on this planet."

"Any idea where they what has happened out there?" she asked, trying to keep her voice from shaking.

Not Lorne but the Satedan called Ronon answered her question; he had insisted on helping them with the search and she had gratefully accepted his help. Of course, Caldwell had protested but she would ally with the Goa'uld themselves if she could save the lives of her people in the process.

"We have found this next to the Stargate," the former Runner rumbled, handing her an Ancient device, "And there were signs of a fight close to the Gate and in a certain part of the ruins. I suspect that someone has subdued Sheppard and brought him on another planet!"

"Is there any way to determine to which planet they have been brought?" she inquired, trying to remain professional.

"I don't think so Ma'am!" Lorne said, before quickly correcting his statement – had her face revealed her emotions? –, "but maybe Zelenka should have a look at this. With McKay away he's the expert for this and if he can't find a solution, no one can."

If Lorne had intended to cheer her up with his last statement, he had failed miserably for she felt even worse than before, provided that this was possible. An unknown and probably hostile force had kidnapped her prime expedition team, bringing them to an unknown destination and she was powerless to help them unless Zelenka did the impossible and found the dammed Gate address. She finally found her voice to accept Lorne's suggestion and to thank him for his good work, before returning to her office, hoping that she would be undisturbed for some time.

All emotions she had stored up bubbled out and she was neither able nor willing to hold them in check anymore. Although she know she only made it worse, she couldn't help thinking about what would happen if they didn't make it back alive. She felt personally responsible for every death that had occurred on this expedition for she had been the one who had led these people here. Up to now, she had been able to handle the stress and the guilt her position held, after all her people relied on her objectivity, but the prospect of loosing McKay, Teyla and John at one fell swoop was too much for her, especially after having lost Ford only a few weeks ago.

Unlike her chief military advisor and would-be lover, she had realized that the chances of finding the Lieutenant alive tended towards zero and this loss tormented her most of all. Ford hadn't deserved to die like this and the fact that there was no body to bury made his death even more difficult to bear. She wondered if John would share his former second-in-command's fate, if he simply wouldn't return from his current mission, leaving her alone with her grief and uncertainty.

Ironically, it would be a fitting end for their totally messed up relationship that was an enigma to everyone itself. She had no idea what John really felt for her and he probably didn't know the true nature of her feelings either. Despite her experiences as a diplomat it was impossible for her to tell whether the signs she picked up were the result of deliberate flirting or if he just treated every woman in this manner. Perhaps she should have told him that she wanted more than friendship from him but up to now she never had the opportunity to do so. At first she had tried not to fall for his charm for she had had a boyfriend on Earth that waited for her. That had changed as soon as Simon had left her but somehow she hadn't found the courage to tell the Colonel. The breakup with Simon had hurt her more than she had expected and she had been hesitant to risk her heart again. Despair filled her when she realized that it probably was too late now to change anything; that John would be gone and she would have to run Atlantis on her own.

"Please John!" she whispered, "Please come back! Don't leave me alone! I need you!"

A knock on the door interrupted her, probably Zelenka who wanted to tell her how difficult it would be to find the right address. She returned to her desk and bade him to enter after wiping away the single tear that had run across her cheek.

- - - - -

Somewhere within the City of Traitors

Conscious returned suddenly and violently, leaving Ford disoriented and groggy. A cylindrical energy field surrounded him, blinding him with its intense radiance. He gingerly extended his hand towards the force field, expecting to feel resistance or some kind of shock. To his surprise, his hand passed through the energy without resistance, accompanied only by a familiar prickling sensation. Hardly believing his good fortune, he trusted himself forward and landed face first on the cold floor. Cursing, he got back to his feet and tried to gather his thoughts, unsure where he was and what to do next.

Once out of the field, thinking properly became a lot easier and the remaining dizziness quickly was replaced by another, more sinister feeling, the burning sensation caused by the lack of enzyme. Ford reached for the enzyme bottle in his jacket only to realize that both bottle and jacket had disappeared. He was down to his pants and T-shirt without anything that could be used as a weapon. Due to the fact that the last thing he remembered before waking up was Belbe's triumphant voice, this insight was highly unsettling. Driven by the urge for more enzyme, he gave the room a much closer inspection.

He had awoken in a large hall that was filled with several others of these cylindrical holding cells. Three of them were active and illuminated the room with a flickering white light, making it difficult to make out details. His hope that his equipment was stored nearby turned out to be extremely short-lived for except for the cells the room was completely empty.

Soft footsteps interrupted his examination and he quickly retreated into a shadowy corner, hoping to surprise the intruder. A door he hadn't noticed yet opened and a young man, probably not older than himself, entered the room. Like Belbe, he was dressed in a shiny black armor but he lacked the aura of experience and cunningness that surrounded the bounty hunter. He approached the cells - presumably it was his job to check on them -, taking no notice of the Lieutenant that crept in shadows, stalking his prey.

Ford was determined to use this lack of vigilance to subdue the soldier quickly for without weapons and enough enzyme he couldn't risk a long fight. He made his move when the guard was busy with examining the now empty but still active cell, slamming the youngster into a nearby wall. To his surprise, the lad recovered quickly and even managed to wiggle out of his grip, launching a blurry of startling strong counterattacks. Aiden suddenly found himself in the defensive, struggling to parry the blows his opponent aimed at him while feeling how the urge for more enzyme got stronger and stronger. He had to come up with a new strategy before the withdrawal would render him helpless, ruining his properly only chance to escape.

The guard apparently realized his fading strength for he attacked even more viciously, eventually landing a vicious backhand swing that caused Ford to stumble backwards. Having lost his balance, he was unable to defend himself properly so his opponent's next attack crashed through his improvised defense and knocked him to the floor. Just as he had planned the young soldier believed him finished and moved forward to pin him down, neglecting his defense in the process. Aiden made him pay for this mistake, sweeping his legs away and pinning him to the ground. The lad tried futilely to free himself for the Lieutenant had gravity on his side and didn't make the mistake to underestimate his opponent twice. To emphasis his point he grabbed the guard's right arm and broke it with a quick, violent twist.

"Now, you and I are going to have a nice little chat!" he said, once the soldier had quit screaming, "If I like your answers, there will be no need to break any other bones!"

Several minutes later Aiden had the information he wanted and had stored his would-be captor in one of the holding cells. He quickly extracted the enzyme bottle out of his retrieved equipment and gave himself the much needed shot of the precious liquid, not one second too soon for he had already began to feel feverish and convulsions raked his body. The familiar feeling of strength and confidence filled him but he still felt a little light headed and made a mental note to avoid further confrontation until all side effects of the unintended withdrawal had expired.

His gaze fell on the unconscious forms of his former teammates who slept peacefully in front of their now deactivated stasis cells. The guard had told him that he had been rematerialized in one of them and that they used the same technology as the Wraith stunners to keep the prisoners from awakening. The enzyme had protected him, of course, but Sheppard and the others would remain unconscious for some time even after getting out of the energy field. So he retreated into a shadowy corner and settled down to wait.

- - - - -

Belbe walked through the deserted corridors of the Academy when her nerves finally got the better of her: Up to now she still could discard her plan and continue working for the Wraith but once she had told Veldrin of it there would be no time for second thoughts anymore. Either the Highexecuter would have her arrested at once or he would see how much he had to gain and would help her. She hated this stray factor in her scheme but it simply wasn't possible to get rid of the Wraith without his approval. Besides she suspected that despite his kind words Gix had stopped to trust her, what rendered working for him even more dangerous. The thought of becoming Wraith food as soon as she failed to accomplish a mission didn't appeal to her at all so she probably had to take this outrageous risk.

Despite her jumpiness, she was amused by the pure irony of the situation. Of all places in the universe she actually chose the Academy to decide that she had to trust someone, violating one of its most basic teachings. A blend of university, barracks and military headquarter, the Academy represented all the things that distinguished the Gith from the other humans of the Pegasus Galaxy: the cold efficiency and the lack of values many other cultures held in high esteem: friendship, trust, love and honesty. And she was about to ask the spider in this web of paranoia and ruthlessness, whether he was willing to risk anything he had achieved in his life for the small chance that they could actually break free of the Wraith. Even to her this sounded like a stupid idea but she pushed her doubts aside for she sill hadn't found any alternative to this plan.

When she had finally arrived at the door that led to Veldrin's office Belbe was more than a little surprised to find it guarded. Two hulking soldiers flanked the entrance, Lifestealers by the design of their armor that looked remarkable like the cloths Wraith soldiers wore, probably more to keep an eye on the Highexecuter than to offer any real protection. Belbe did her best to keep her fact neutral despite the contempt and profound hatred she felt for the Lifestealers who willingly served and occasionally even worshipped the Wraith. In her opinion they were nothing but lunatic opportunists who lived in the illusion that the Wraith appreciated their work and would reward them for their loyalty. But she had more pressing duties than to wonder about their incredibly foolishness, so she paid them no more heed and entered the office.

Nothing in the room indicated the power that its inhabitant wielded but this simplicity fitted for Veldrin was one of the most pragmatic persons Belbe had ever met and probably despised anything that had no practical function. The furniture in the office apparently followed this principle for the majority of the room was covered by bookshelves and a massive desk that was piled with innumerable notes, reports and books. The only ornamental piece of furniture was the emblem of the Shadow Legion, a sword in front of an eclipse, which was painted on one of the walls. Veldrin himself stood on a massive window that offered a spectacular view over the graceful spires of the City of Traitors and seemed completely lost in thoughts though Belbe was sure that he had noticed her entrance and waited patiently for him to make the first move.

Her gaze fell on the Shadow Legion insignia again and she thought of the course of events that had made the Legion to the main force in Gith society. After the Extinction and the occupancy of Panopticon by the Wraith dozens of so-called guilds had formed, each striving for dominance over every other faction. Part of them had been religious cults, some had represented certain parts of the society like the wealthy upper-class and some had been a receptacle for notorious roughnecks and anarchists. The former leaders of the city that had survived the Extinction had been unable to maintain order and soon each of the guilds had controlled a certain part of Shakuras, constantly striving for more power.

For almost 9850 years the guilds had fought each other, devastating great parts of the planet in the process. These dark epoch, the Guild War, ended when three minor guilds formed the Shadow Legion and defeated the other ones who had been unwilling to work together even when facing certain defeat. Now, the three sections of the nihilistic, militaristic and order-loving Legion controlled almost everything within the City of Traitors. The Enforcers served as guards and prime military forces while the Unseen operated on other worlds, collecting information and fulfilling the duties the Wraith set for them. There were also civil members, called the Sentinels, who could be found in nearly every aspect of civil life on Shakuras.

As Highexecutor, Veldrin was the leader of the Legion, organizing and supervising these operations as well as training the younger members at the Academy. He was probably the most powerful being on Shakuras, second only to the Evincar, and was one of the few non-Wraith who had – although limited – access to Panopticon. Unlike Belbe who had spent most of the last 10 years on other worlds, Veldrin was familiar with the security systems of the city, an expertise that would be invaluable to her plan, provided that he agreed to help her, of course.

The Highexecutor finally snapped out of his thoughts and turned around to face his visitor whose patience had been about to end.

"Belbe," he said, "That's a pleasant surprise! How is my favorite and most capable Necroshade?"

Veldrin was a tall, lean man with icy blue eyes and short, jet black hair that was riddled with a few gray strands. Though he had given up active duty as an Unseen after his promotion almost 15 years ago, Belbe was sure that he was still a capable fighter and master tactician.

"I'm fine though it has been a rough day," she replied, "Gix ordered me to capture a human that turned out to be much more capable than we had expected……"

Though she apparently told Veldrin about her current mission, her mind was on a totally different conversation, one that didn't use words but signs to deliver a message. She wanted to make sure that the Lifestealers outside couldn't overhear their conspiracy so she made use of a certain very accurate form of sign language every high-ranking member of the Legion knew. The Highexecutor played along, feigning interest in her mission report while listening to her plan.

"_That's quite a risky plan!" he signed after she had finished her silent explanation, "What makes you believe that I would take such an enormous risk?"_

"_Just think of the possible reward, Highexecutor!" she answered equally silently; "We would finally be free of the Wraith and all their restrictions. We have enough potential to defeat them and found a new glorious empire, an empire you could lead by the way! This prospect should be worth the risk!"_

Veldrin seemed to consider this offer for a few moments before vanishing suddenly within a flash of blue light. Startled, Belbe got ready to defend herself and was quite surprised when she heard the distinct sound of two bodies hitting the ground from outside the office. The door opened a few seconds later, revealing the Highexecutor who stood calmly between the bodies of the two guards, wiping the blood from two wicked-looking daggers which had probably been hidden within his clothes. He seemed completely undisturbed by the fact that he had just killed two men and was about to risk anything he held dear. Veldrin's indestructible calm was something Belbe had always admired and she was convinced that nothing short of an apocalypse could catch him off guard.

"Sorry for not inviting you to join me," he said, not bothering to explain how exactly he had passed through the wall, "But I have been waiting to do this for far too long! But now, let's start our little putsch!"

- - - - -

John slowly came back to his senses and was surprised to find himself lying on the floor of a dimly lit room in front of a pile of clothes and weapons. He had expected to wake up in a cell on a Wraith ship, stripped of everything useful but this room looked more like a storage hall than a prison. He sensed movement to his left and realized that McKay and Teyla had woken up next to him both looking as confused as he felt.

"Are you okay?" John asked and was relieved when both nodded, "Any idea what where we are Teyla?"

"This looks different than any Wraith ship I've ever seen, " the Athosian replied, "Perhaps Aiden has brought us to another planet, he mentioned some of them before Belbe captured us."

"I hate to burst your bubble, Teyla," Ford said, stepping out of the shadows, "But this isn't Pool Planet or any other of my hideouts!"

"_Pool Planet?"_ McKay echoed, "Why would anyone name a planet like this?"

"Because there are several wonderful lagoons next to the Gate," the Lieutenant responded as though it was the most obvious thing in the world, "They are perfect if you want to take a swim so I named the planet Pool Planet."

"Can we change the subject please?" McKay asked, "The image of you going skinny dipping on another planet is disturbing!"

"If you're done with imagining how the Lieutenant might look without his clothes, Rodney," John said, causing everyone except McKay to snicker, "we might concentrate back on the task at hand which is finding out where we are and how to get out of here."

"I already know where we are," Ford stated, "But getting out of here could become difficult. Belbe used some kind of Wraith transporter to capture us and brought us here. Unlike you, I woke up immediately after being rematerialized, subdued a guard and retrieved our weapons. The guard told me that we're within the City of Traitors which is on a planet called Shakuras and that a Wraith called Gix will come for us soon. I know where the Stargate is located so we should get moving before anyone notices our escape."

"Well done, Ford," John said, while arming himself, "Take point and lead us to the Gate! Perhaps my rotten day will get better from now on."

The Lieutenant nodded and followed the order immediately, opening a door on the other side of the room. Sheppard followed his former second-in-command and stopped dead in his tracks as soon as he had crossed the threshold. The door led out to a balcony, overlooking a massive caldera that housed a city that was built in the same graceful and astonishing way as Atlantis. However, the beauty was lost to John whose mind was filled with one unsettling thought: Teyla had been right; they did fight direct descendants of the Ancients.

"The guard told me that the Gate is in this building," Ford stated, pointing to a complex about one mile east of their current position, "I explored part of the city earlier and didn't encounter any guards but it is possible that the area around the Gate is more heavily secured and I didn't want to scout it without someone to watch my back. Probably Belbe didn't consider it necessary to set up any further guards so reaching the Gate should be a piece of cake!"

Like last time Ford had made such a statement, McKay contradicted the Lieutenant: "I don't know if you have managed to miss the blindingly obvious but this city was built by the Ancients! This leads to the conclusion that the Gith who have brought us here are descendants of them and probably have access to technology that is far superior to us. But breaking out of their city is of course no problem for our friend Super Ford who presumably has already come up with a brilliant and suicidal plan that will get everyone except him in grave danger!"

"Rodney!" John warned, "Get a grip! Panicking won't help us at all!"

"I'm not panicking, I just want to point out how desperate our situation is!" the astrophysicist replied, though the fact that his voice was shaking slightly undermined this statement, "Ok, we could get out of these stasis cells but that doesn't mean that we're safe already. None of us has the faintest idea what is lurking within this city or how long it will take this Gix to arrive. The last thing we need now is an overconfident hotshot who throws all caution aside just because he feels invulnerable!"

"I don't feel invulnerable and if you don't stop bitching around anyone within a 3 mile radius will know where we are!" Ford snapped, looking as though he had to fight down the desire to throw McKay over the edge again, "Now, let's go! I think dawn is only a few hours away and I would like to be gone by then!"

While following the Lieutenant, Sheppard overheard McKay mumbling something about being a dead man. John hoped that the scientist was exaggerating as usual.

- - - - -

_Predator_, somewhere in hyperspace

Commander Gix sat in his chair on _Predator's_ bridge surrounded by his subordinates and completely absorbed in his own thoughts. He should feel delighted after all the operation had been successful and a wonderful dinner in form of this extraordinary human waited for him in the City of Traitors. However, he loathed having to return to Shakuras where he probably had to deal with Crovax – no, _Evincar_ Crovax – again. Words were not strong enough to describe the contempt he felt for the ruler of the City of Traitors who was also his commanding officer. In Gix's opinion every Evincar had been either incompetent, uncaring, mad or a combination of these vices. Though Davvol hadn't done anything except culling the city during his rule and Tichondrius had been obsessed with his genetic experiments, Crovax was far worse than any of his than any of his predecessors for he was paranoid, schizophrenic and unpredictable.

He was so extremely irritating and full of himself that up to now every encounter with the Evincar had left Gix angry enough to murder the next person who crossed his way, a fact that was well-known to Belbe. Not for the first time, he wondered if the bounty hunter had used a voidstone simply to anger him, to make him pay for accusing her of treachery. Or could there be more behind this than simple vengeance? Only a few days ago, he would have regarded the thought that Belbe might be plotting against him ridiculous but the fact that she had withheld important information had shattered his trust. But what did she hope to achieve by bringing the humans into the City of Traitors?

Perhaps she planned – no, she couldn't be _that_ foolish, could she? However, the thought deeply unsettled him, the sheer possibility of what might happen made his skin crawl. Maybe he was getting paranoid on his old days but it was probably better not to take any chances when dealing with one of the most cunning Gith bounty hunters. He was determined to make sure that her plans – provided that she had any – would be foiled so he snapped out of his thoughts and gave the necessary orders. A small smile found the way to his lips for this might be the perfect opportunity to get rid of a certain, bothersome Evincar.

- - - - -

When they had finally reached the complex that housed the Stargate after sneaking through the city for what seemed like hours but was probably not longer than about 30 minutes, John was more edgy than ever before in his life. Even though nothing had happened during their journey the constant fear of being spotted and the nervous anticipation that something _had_ to go wrong soon had taken their toll. The City of Traitors was one of the most disturbing places had had ever seen for it was filled with an omnipresent aura of impending disaster and hidden malevolence that set his teeth on edge.

The others seemed to share this impression for they looked as exhausted and weary as he felt. Only Ford seemed unaffected by the strains of their escape whether due to the endurance the enzyme granted him or because he was paranoid himself and therefore used to feeling surrounded by enemies, John didn't know. At the moment, they were gathered in a huge ornate hall that was decorated with innumerable statues and insignia, all depicting the same symbol: a sword in front of an eclipse. The same symbol could be found on a large door that –as far as the guard Ford had questioned had told them – led to the Gate room but was locked for anyone who didn't have a certain 'signet'. McKay was currently fumbling with the door controls, searching a way to undo these security measures while cursing under his breath.

"Making any progress, Rodney?" the Colonel inquired, "I don't want to sound impatient but on Atlantis you could open any door within a few seconds."

"Although this is basically the same technology, the combination of crystals is far more complex than anything I have seen on Atlantis," the scientist replied, "Unless you're suddenly an expert on Ancient technology, it would be great if you could concentrated on looking for bad guys and let me do my job! Otherwise it will take ages to…."

The door opened at this point and revealed a soldier who was dressed in the silky black armor of the Gith and armed with a CMG. It took both him and Sheppard some time to realize what had just happened before the two of them raised their weapons simultaneously. In the end, the Colonel overcame his surprise a bit sooner and buried half a dozens bullets in the Gith's body. Ford shouted a warning and only a few seconds later a CMG projectile slammed into the wall only millimeters next to John's face. The second guard lasted hardly longer than his companion for the Lieutenant hit him in the chest with a Wraith stunner and knocked him out.

After making sure that no other soldiers lurked in the shadows, the companions entered the room and were relieved to find the Stargate, waiting to take them out of this nightmare. Sheppard immediately headed towards the DHD only to slam into an energy field that surrounded the Gate and had been completely invisible until he touched it.

"Seems like our entry has activated some kind of security system," McKay stated, "I'm quite sure I can find a way to deactivate …."

"Sorry to disappoint you but this is completely impossible!" a familiar voice behind them said, "Once activated there is no way to lower the shield from here so I guess you're once again trapped within the City of Traitors!"

Sheppard turned around to see the last person he wanted to see right now: Belbe who was accompanied by a tall man he didn't know. The bounty hunter was smiling her usual mischievous smile and the Colonel was quite sure that he wouldn't like the reason for her amusement.

"Your friends are indeed quite capable, Belbe," the other Gith said, "They have escaped out of their stasis cells and were skilled enough to reach this complex. I understand now why you want them to join our little rebellion!"

"What do you want Belbe?" Ford asked, "And what does he mean with 'joining you in a rebellion'?"

"Technically it's more like a putsch" the Necroshade replied, "Highexecutor Veldrin and I want to offer you your freedom in exchange for a small favor! If you help us to break free of the Wraith we'll allow you to return to your world. You'll get all the required information once you have agreed to assist us."

"And what happens if we refuse to become a pawn in your little mind game?" Sheppard inquired though he was sure that he already knew the answer.

"Then we'll drag you back to your cells where you can wait for Gix to arrive," Belbe stated, "But because you probably won't survive this encounter I would advise you to accept our generous offer."

"So you want us to help you breaking the 10000 year old reign of the Wraith on this planet without giving us any information and with the prospect of becoming Wraith food if we refuse to assist you?" Sheppard asked, considering this the worst offer he had ever heard.

"Exactly," Veldrin replied, "And you should know that your life has no value what-so-ever for us, so don't expect us to do anything in order to save you!"

"Ok, we're in!" John said, knowing that they had no other choice "When do we start?"


	4. Panopticon

Chapter 4: Panopticon

_Security, the fourth myth of reality;  
those who let their guard down are  
on the shortest route to the grave!_

_The nature of reality, Gith database_

"Are you completely CRAZY?" McKay asked, "How can you even consider allying with them? They will lead us into a suicide mission and even if we succeed – what is incredibly unlikely – they'll never let us go! We can as well try to find another way out of this cursed city!"

"We have no choice, Rodney, and if you would think about our position for only a few seconds, you would realize that!" John replied testily, "Besides we haven't even heard their plan so you have no way of knowing whether this will be a suicide mission or not!"

"McKay got a point!" Ford stated, "How do we know that they won't try to lock us up again once we have helped them? After all it was Belbe who has brought us here in the first place!"

"I only hunted you because Gix ordered it," the bounty hunter stated matter-of-factly, "Once we have gotten rid of the Wraith there is no reason for me to keep you imprisoned anymore. Perhaps we might even become allies and purge the galaxy from the Wraith together!"

"We're wasting time!" Veldrin interrupted, – John noted with interest that he didn't seem to share his companion's enthusiasm about forming an alliance – "They have no other option than helping us! Now, explain you plan so we can get started!"

Though Ford and McKay didn't look convinced, John gave Belbe a reassuring nod while considering the offer the Necroshade had just made. He didn't like working with the Gith and didn't trust them but maybe they could become valuable allies once this was over. Elizabeth would want him to at least try to work with them.

"The Wraith control a small but important part of the City of Traitors," Belbe explained, "Their headquarter is within the orbital fortress Panopticon which floats above the city. Panopticon is equipped with the Gith Ray Cannon, an experimental weapon that was designed to protect Shakuars from the Wraith. As far as I know it could obliterate a whole Wraith fleet with one shot but it wasn't completed in time to stop the Wraith from reaching the planet. If we manage to take control of Panopticon the Wraith will never be able to attack us again!"

"And how are we supposed to do this?" McKay asked, putting an obscene amount of sarcasm into his voice, "Simply fly up there and ask the Wraith whether they have any objections to us taking control of one of the most powerful weapons ever built?"

"We won't fly up there," Veldrin said, ignoring McKay's sarcasm, "The Wraith have restricted great part of our database, including the part that deals with building space ships. Since all our ships have been destroyed in the war, the only way to reach Panopticon from here is the Door to Nothingness, a highly efficient transporter that will teleport us up there. With your help we should be able to take out the Lifestealers who guard the Door and to enter Panopticon without raising alarm. Some of us will remain at the transporter to secure our retreat while the others search for the Seal of Dominion, a token that will grant its bearer full access to Panopticon's systems. Once we have found it no one will be able to stop us and a new glorious empire will be born!" "

"If the whole thing is so easy why haven't you rebelled against the Wraith much sooner?" John inquired, suspecting that Veldrin told only part of the truth, "It's hard to believe that the Wraith would make an overthrow _this_ easy!"

"I've told you everything you need to know!" the Highexecutor said with one of the coldest smiles John had ever seen, "Any further details are irrelevant for all you need to do is to follow orders. Now, follow me, it will take some time to reach the Door to Nothingness and I guess we're all eager to write history!"

Every concern John had about allying with Veldrin increased after this statement, concerns obviously shared by his teammates who didn't seem to be eager to follow the Gith. John hated to be left in the dark by anyone – especially by possible allies – but he had no choice but to accept their secrecy and tried to ignore the voices of logic and experience who told him that that kind of alliance usually ended in disaster. After having silenced McKay – who had been eager to continue their earlier discussion as well as voicing his concern about this bargain – again, he told the others to follow Veldrin while he would guard their six, a task that was probably live-saving in a city that was by definition filled with traitors.

To his surprise Belbe, who had been the first to follow the Highexecutor, suddenly appeared to his left and flash him some signs that probably meant: 'Shut up and fall back'. Interested in what the bounty hunter might have to say, he obeyed her command, waiting till the others were out of earshot before whispering: "What do you want?"

"Telling you what _really_ awaits you within Panopticon," she replied, keeping her voice equally low, "Veldrin is keeping important information from you, endangering the whole operation in the process!"

"Yeah, I figured that out," the Colonel stated, "But why is he so keen on leaving us in the dark?"

"I'm not sure," Belbe admitted, "Veldrin is one of the few persons that aren't clear as glass to me but I suspect that he expects you to betray us and wants to have an advantage should this happen. However, I won't let his paranoia spoil my plans so I offer you a deal. I'll tell you all I know if you answer my questions about a certain Lieutenant."

Though he had no idea – except some really naughty and indecent ones that shouldn't be thought until 2300 – why she was so interested in Ford he decided to play along and to take advantage of the disagreement between his – well, whatever Belbe and Veldrin were at the moment –, hoping to finally get the information he wanted.

"Ok, we have a deal," he said, "Now, tell me what Veldrin did leave out during his report!"

"Usually I would demand a payback first but today is your lucky day so I'll give you some information before forcing you to fulfill your part of the bargain," she stated, smiling her mischievous smile, "First of all we have no idea where exactly the Seal of Dominion is hidden or how it is guarded…."

- - - - -

Panopticon

Evincar Crovax stood at a massive window which offered a spectacular view onto Shakuras, his kingdom, toying with the token that marked his as the undisputed lord of the City of Traitors. The Seal of Dominion that was a beautiful amulet crafted out of a silvery metal which, despite its considerable age, was still bright and unscratched. It depicted a phoenix surrounded by flames, probably to symbolize power as well as eternal and unquestioned leadership. Ironically, up to now the reign of its bearers had been far from eternal or undisputed and had often found a very sudden and violent end.

The first Non-Ancient who had laid hand on the precious token – and on Panopticon as well – had been Davvol, the Wraith general who had commanded the siege – if you can call the short skirmish that predated the Gith's surrender a siege – of the City of Traitors. After the Extinction and the first siege of Atlantis, Davvol had made Shakuras his personal feeding ground, hibernating within Panopticon and culling the planet from time to time. He had had no interest what-so-ever in interfering into the civil war that was ravaging the planet and probably never thought of using the Gith as something else than a snack. Crovax shook his head at so much incompetence and regretted for about the thousand time not having lived these days. It would have been so much fun to kill Davvol slowly and with pleasure, replacing him as Evincar of Shakuras once the fun was over. But life simply wasn't fair so it had taken almost 10000 years until had been able to claim the throne, giving the city the competent ruler it deserved.

"_What's eating you, Crovax?" Tichondrius' voice asked, interrupting his pleasant thoughts,_ _"You shouldn't think so much, it simply doesn't suit you!"_

"I was thinking about how incompetent my predecessors were," the Evincar replied, a sneer on his face, "They wasted valuable time with culling the city or puny little experiments, eating or studying the Gith instead of using their talents of intrigue and manipulation. It's tragic that the most important positions are often given to the most incompetent and foolish beings!"

"_Yes, Davvol was a terrible ruler," Tichondrius stated, "He totally neglected his duties and we were lucky that the Gith were to busy with killing each other to take advantage of this lack of vigilance. Fortunately, me and my 'puny little experiments' put an end on this, restricting great parts of the Gith database and confiscating all technology that could have been a threat to our position. Unlike you, I didn't need to surround myself with roughnecks or lunatics to maintain my rule and could focus on more important things than plotting against the other Wraith! Besides, my experiments would have been successful if you hadn't interrupted my short reign 152 years ago!"_

Corvax snorted: "Oh sure you were a wonderful Evincar. Let me sum up your 'short' rule to refresh your obvious damaged memory. After slaying Davvol, a fitting end after 8352 years of incompetence, you replaced him as lord of Shakuras, intending to find a way to make Lantean technology useful for our kind. It took you 500 years to find out that a gene controls their technology and an additional 250 years to realize that there is no way to bypass this security measure!"

"_You forget that I found a way to work around the problem," Tichondrius snapped, an almost childish defiance in his voice, "I tried to adapt the gene in order to integrate it into Wraith DNA and if that little putsch of yours hadn't spoiled everything, I would have succeeded by now! You should know best that the results were very promising!" _

"Tiny islands of success within an ocean of failure!" the current Evincar said dismissively, "In the end your reign was exactly as Davvol's – a big waste of time – and I have no time to discuss the qualities that make a good ruler with you so shut up and let me do my work!"

Tichondrius muttered something about ignorant savages before falling silent probably silently cursing the other Evincar. Crovax turned back towards to window and resumed the inspection of his kingdom, pleased to have stifled his bothersome old rival. He basked in the pleasant memories of how enjoyable it had been to overthrow the Wraith scientist for a moment before concentrating on the sight before him again.

Even after so many years and without killing someone in the process – which was in Crovax's opinion not only highly entertaining and wonderful to witness but also the only true form of art – Shakuras always managed to impress him with its wild and foreboding beauty. From his vantage point he could see both the Null Moon, the lesser of Shakura's two moons which was named after its faint, silvery light and its bigger twin, the Jade moon, a rare and beautiful view. The fact that he ruled about this beauty lifted his mood even higher and purged the irritation Tichondrius had caused from his mind.

However, something was missing these days and it took the Evincar only a few seconds to realize what it was: _Predator_. Although he commanded one of the most powerful weapons ever built, he always felt insecure when _Predator_ wasn't around to defend Panopticon. He constantly feared that the other Wraith might conspire against him and the discord that had taken hold of the Wraith Empire lately had increased this worry tremendously.

Of course, this new disorder also held enormous potential, a potential he was determined to tap. While the other Wraith were scrambling for feeding grounds he would use his loyal Lifestealers to set up an enormous army, an army that would make him eventually to the undisputed ruler of the Pegasus Galaxy!

A knock on his door interrupted this pleasant train of thought, causing Crovax to frown in irritation. Whoever dared to interrupt him now would regret it! Smiling, he moved towards his throne and bade the visitor to enter, wondering what would be the best way to dispatch the insolent fool.

- - - - -

Shakuras, the Door to Nothingness

Instead of calming his nerves, Belbe's report had increased John's worries tenfold and had left the Colonel unsure whether the decision to find out more about the plan had been a wise one. Of course everything could work out perfectly and they could be home before breakfast but there were just too many stray factors and unknowns in it for his taste. First, they had to seize control of the Door to Nothingness, a task that involved fighting at least half a dozen Lifestealers – which, according to the Necroshade, were extremely capable and loyal fighters – and once they had teleported into the orbital fortress things would get even worse for they had almost no reliable information about the security measures inside Panopticon.

The fact that at least three of his companions were far from reliable at the moment worried Sheppard even more than the lack of information or the prospect of fighting elite Gith soldiers. Sure, Belbe had given him the details Veldrin had tried to keep from him and seemed quite eager to allying but the fact that she had demanded information about Ford as a trade-off made him wondering if she had a plan up her sleeve and if her helpfulness was just a double fake-out to get what she wanted. Of course, it was also possible that she was just curious and that he was getting paranoid after being trapped in the City of Traitors for hours.

Then there was the trouble with Ford who was still mentally unstable and could change from reliable Lieutenant to paranoid maniac and back within seconds. Though he seemed almost normal at the moment – to name a planet 'Pool Planet' sounded much like the Aiden Ford he knew – John had no idea how the Lieutenant would react once they were about to leave this thrice accursed planet of shadows and mistrust. Would he accompany them willingly or would they have to knock him out and drag him back to Atlantis? Anyway, Sheppard was determined not to let him escape again even if that meant bringing him back in pieces – after all Beckett was pretty good in patching up people and John had a crack for puzzles, so they should be able to get Ford back into shape one way or the other.

As if all this wasn't bad enough already, fate has also made sure that one crucial member of the mission, Highexecutor Veldrin, considered the Lanteans as expandable tools that would be discarded as soon as they failed to function as expected. For the thousands time this day, John cursed the streak of bad luck that had gotten him into this situation and made a mental note to tell Elisabeth that he wanted much more than just friendship from her as soon as he returned to Atlantis, provided that he made it back alive. He guessed that he should have told her sooner but he somehow never found the right occasion to do so. Even to him this 'finding-the-right-moment' thing sounded like a pathetic excuse for there had been several such occasions – for example after that … _bug_ had almost killed him – and John hadn't used any of them.

Truth be told, the real reason was that he was afraid of her reaction; afraid to completely mess up their already complicated relationship. Besides, an affair with her could be seriously dangerous for both of them after all that would be just the excuse Caldwell needed to get a least one of them out of the picture and John didn't want to imagine how Atlantis would be like with this narrow-minded jerk as military commander. The Colonel snapped out of his thoughts when the voice of the former second-in-command broke the silence.

"I don't like the look of this!" Ford stated, referring to Belbe and Veldrin who had spent the last 15 minutes in a silent but – judging from their angry expressions and the urgency of the gestures they used to communicate – heated debate, "They're up to something, it just can't take _that_ long to determine the best way to strike!"

John could understand the Lieutenant's jumpiness for the circumstances of this discussion were far from reassuring. After using about 100 different shortcuts and transporters they had finally reached the complex that housed the Door to Nothingness without raising alarm – what had been more than just a little difficult –, only to be stopped by some dispute between their allies that was officially nothing more than a last minute strategy discussion. Apart from the conspiratorial nature of this argument, the fact that they waited within an enormous temple- like room that offered no cover at all was unsettling.

"I don't like it either but there's nothing we can do against it," the Colonel replied, "At least McKay seems to have fun!"

The scientist was so fascinated by the enormous room – John guessed that the Gate room back in Atlantis would fit at least ten times into this hall – that he probably hadn't even noticed the reason for their stay. True, the former temple was unusual for, unlike every other building on Shakuras he had seen, it was in a state of decay and seemed to be the victim of deliberate destruction, but Sheppard just couldn't understand why the ruined building was so damn interesting. At the moment McKay was busy studying the only intact part of the room, six ornate pillars that were covered with Ancient-like runes, constantly muttering to himself and oblivious to everything around him.

Ford snorted: "That's McKay, nothing short of a full-fledged Wraith attack can get his attention when he has found a new toy to play with! Speaking of toys, why did you bring one of those CMGs with you?"

"Belbe told me that I'll need one soon and its original owner didn't need it anymore," John replied, moving the weapon from his back to his hands, "She said that CMG stands for compressed matter gun and that it's projectiles slam right through these annoying Gith shields so I guess that it could become very useful when we have reached Panopticon."

"Probably it works much like the rail guns Colonel Everett used during the siege," McKay said, apparently having lost interest in the pillars, "Given enough acceleration even a small projectile can be remarkably effective in penetrating all kind of armors. I would love to examine it once were back in Atlantis, it's about 100 times more interesting that these graffiti's over there!"

"GRAFFITI?" Veldrin roared, having finished his dispute with Belbe, "These 'graffiti' are the six myths of reality, the basic principles of our society, so watch your insolent tongue or you soon will have to live without it!"

"Trust me, McKay is more useful with his tongue still in place though he can be a bit tactless sometimes," Sheppard said, shooting the astrophysicist a think-twice-before-you-say-something-like-that look, "Now, tell us what we are supposed to do next!"

"You stay put and leave the initial fighting to us!" the Highexecutor explained, "Once we have launched the first strike you join us and eliminate the remaining Lifestealers. Afterwards we activate the teleporter and enter Panopticon. Just make sure that you survive the firefight for we might need you later! Now Belbe, let's go and kill some Wraith-lovers!"

Without waiting for anyone to respond he moved straight toward one of the ornate walls of the temple, followed by Belbe who was using her amulet to become invisible once again. Veldrin reached into his cloak and produced a fist sized signet which was adorned with the omnipresent eclipse symbol and placed it against the wall. The token lit up and the apparently solid wall vanished, revealing a vast, circular room behind it that was probably the location of the Door to Nothingness for it was guarded by several Gith dressed in Wraith-like armor, which was adorned with the image of a claw dripping blood instead of the more common eclipse, and even the small part John could see from his hiding place was cramped with various consoles. The Lifestealers seemed more than a little surprised by the Highexecutor's sudden arrival and nervously fingered with their weapons – Wraith stunners and CMGs – while their leader approached Veldrin.

"Greetings, Highexecutor," the Gith said smoothly, bowing low, "What is the reason for your unexpected visit?"

"Actually I'm here to enter Panopticon, to steal the Seal of Dominion and to become the new ruler of Shakuras," Veldrin replied with a wolfish smile, "But I think I'll start with plunging a dagger through your spine!"

The Lifestealer never had a chance for his opponent vanished with a flash of blue light and reappeared directly behind him, burying to daggers in the other Gith's spine. Almost instantly another guard let out a gurgled cry and dropped dead, his throat cut by a formerly invisible enemy. After their spectacular first strike both Belbe and Veldrin took cover behind the consoles, just in time to doge the various stunners and CMG bullets the other Lifestealers let loose.

John gave the signal and rushed towards his new allies, firing on one of the guards in the process. His target tried to use its gauntlets to deflect the attack but as promised the CMG projectile slammed right through the energy field and pierced the Gith's right shoulder, causing him to stumble backwards. Ford's and Teyla's attempts were not quite as successful for both the Lieutenant's Wraith stunner and the Athosian's P90 failed to penetrate the energy shields the Lifestealers hid behind. Dropping to his knees next to Veldrin, John was glad that McKay apparently followed the orders he had given him and remained out of sight until the fight was over for the last thing he needed now was a geek to save.

"Be careful with those," the Highexecutor warned, "If you damage the transporter we'll all be stuck here!"

"So you expect me to give up the only tactical advantage I have just because there's the possibility I damage something in the process?" Sheppard asked, shaking his head, "Our friends over there probably won't be as careful and simply shoot right thorough the controls if that's the only way to hit us!"

"They may do this but if their careless actions damage the Door to Nothingness the Evincar will flay them alive!" Veldrin replied, clearly enjoying the fantasy, "So leave the thinking to those who are used to it and simply follow my orders!"

John chose to ignore the last comment and got an overview of their tactical situation instead: He and his fellow conspirators formed a rough semi circle while the remaining six guards had taken cover on the opposite side of the room, launching a flurry of stunners into their direction. Though they seemed to act exactly as Veldrin had predicted and were hesitant to use their CMGs but the rapid fire rate of their stunners and their shield gauntlets made it dangerous and almost pointless to return fire.

"Why don't you just teleport to them like you did earlier?" he asked the Highexecutor, "Otherwise it will take ages to subdue them and possibly we'll have to face even more of them!"

"I won't justify my strategy to an insolent upstart like you!" Veldrin growled, "But I'll enlighten you simply to shut you up: The device I need in order to teleport needs some time to recharge and it would probably burn out if I used it before the recharge is completed! Such trinkets are hard to come by and I certainly won't risk destroying that one simply because you want me to. Besides, they can't call for reinforcements for the console we're hiding behind is the one which is responsible for communication so quit asking stupid questions and. . . HEADS UP!"

Veldrin's shout was accompanied by the sound of several grenade-like objects hitting the ground, one right next to John. The Colonel cursed and tried to get away from the explosive while Veldrin used his device to teleport out of danger. Before Sheppard could search for the Highexecutor or take cover the bomb detonated and he fell to the ground, alive and apparently unhurt but unable to move.

He guessed that some kind of grenade Wraith stunner had laid him low but other than its firearms kin this version left its victim conscious yet completely helpless. He had no idea how the others were faring for at the moment he was lying face down on the cold stone floor but all his worries were confirmed a few seconds later when he was roughly turned around and looked into the fact of a Lifestealer who wore one of the most arrogant smiles he had ever seen.

"As helpless as a newborn kitten!" the Gith taunted, "I'm sure the Evincar will be pleased to have some new toys to play with! A pity that we can't feed on you like he can but I'm sure that we'll find a way to have some fun before delivering you to him!"

From his new position John could see that luck still hadn't returned to them for everyone except Veldrin – who was nowhere to be found – was in a similar situation like he was. Most of the Lifestealers had abandoned their former positions and were now busy with disarming their apparently helpless victims. However, the one trying to strip Ford of his weapons soon realized that the Lieutenant was by no means helpless when a stunner hit him straight in the chest. Sheppard wondered whether this had been a wise idea because even though the feint had been quite impressive, Ford now had to fight the other five guards on his own, odds not even a massive dose of Wraith enzyme couldn't fix.

Fortunately for the Lieutenant, Veldrin chose this moment to reappear behind one of the Lifestealers and immediately dispatched his opponent with a few quick dagger thrusts. Within moments the fight became a chaotic grand melee for the stun grenade's effects were beginning to wear of, enabling the would-be prisoners to rejoin the battle, while the Wraith-loyal Gith were trying but failing miserably to reorganize their defense. John swatted the arrogant Lifestealer's leg away and used the chance to disarm his foe who was struggling to get back on his feet.

However, before the Colonel had the chance to use the acquired Wraith stunner his opponent recovered and landed a vicious uppercut followed by several weaker blows, bypassing Sheppard's defense and knocking the wind out of him. Almost casually, the Gith snatched the stunner and tossed it aside, obviously convinced that he wouldn't need the weapon to defeat John and probably intending to give him the beating of his life.

At first John believed that luck had finally returned to his side, giving him an opponent that was too full of himself to press a tactical advantage, but it took the Lifestealer only seconds to crush this belief for he simply sidestepped or blocked every blow the Colonel aimed at him and answered with startling strong counters that found aim much too often. Soon Sheppard found himself pinned to the ground beneath his tough opponent and was once again completely unable to defend himself.

"Without your weapons you are even more pathetic!" the Gith taunted, raising his fist for another strike, "I will…."

"You won't do anything once I'm finished with you!" Belbe stated before grabbing his arm and yanking it backwards violently. The Lifestealer managed to wiggle out of her grasp just in time to avoid breaking his arm and abandoned the Colonel to confront his new opponent. Unlike Sheppard though, Belbe could match with the superhuman strength of the other Gith, parrying his attacks with ease and eventually knocking him out with a quick and vicious backhand swing.

"Lifestealers!" she spat, helping John back to his feet, "Strong but much too arrogant for their own sake. Are you okay?"

Sheppard nodded and noticed with surprise that they had actually won the battle while he had been busy playing Mortal Kombat with the Lifestealer. Apparently, Veldrin's sudden appearance and Ford's feint had turned the tide, confusing and disordering the guards who had believed that the fight was already over. Now, their unconscious and dead forms roamed the floor of the Door to Nothingness, a macabre reminder not to be too secure of victory and never to underestimate the dangerous mind that was behind this.

"They have acted exactly as I predicted, Necroshade," Veldrin stated, tucking his two daggers back into his clothes, "Lifestealers are dangerous foes but they have the notion of underestimating their enemies! Make them think that they have won and they will fall into any trap you set for them!"

"So you knew that they would use these stun grenades and decided to use us as bait?" Sheppard asked rhetorically, cold fury in his voice, "I bet you never even considered that you could get us killed with this _strategy_! Start treating us as allies and not as pawns on your chessboard or this alliance will be over!"

"Empty threats!" Veldrin stated, completely unbothered by the Colonel's anger, "You still have no other option than to help us if you want to leave Shakuras alive. Besides I didn't plan to exploit their weakness in the first place; I just saw an opportunity and used it. If you're that hesitant in taking necessary risks it's a miracle that you're still alive. Now, let's stop wasting time and continue our mission!"

Sheppard gritted his teeth but decided not to argue with the Highexecutor, simply because he was right about their lack of options and because they still needed him to get back to Atlantis. The cause of his anger was currently busy fumbling with the consoles, frowning in irritation.

"That could be more difficult than I thought," he stated after a few tries, "Without proper authorization I have to hack the computer in order to get the transporter working and the security algorithm is much more complicated than expected!"

"Let me have a look," McKay volunteered, sounding intrigued, "Hacking is one of my many talents and as long as there isn't a Wraith out there who is as brilliant as Rodney McKay I should be able to disable this one in no time!"

Veldrin frowned so much that his eyebrows almost vanished in his hairline but moved aside and let McKay do his work. After a few minutes over concentrated working – which included mumbling to himself and cursing as well as hitting the console – the astrophysicist let out a triumphant scream and announced that the transporter was active now.

"Excellent!" Veldrin said, "You will get three of us up there while the rest stays here and secures our return. Belbe, I want you to remain here and have an eye on our allies!"

"Teyla and I will come with you," Sheppard said, convinced that he needed at least one reliable ally in Panopticon, "Ford, I want you to stay put and make sure that Rodney is still here when we return!"

"But sir, I…" Ford began only to be interrupted by his former CO:

"No buts, Lieutenant! See it as the perfect opportunity to prove that you're okay!"

Ford shot him a murderous look but nodded nevertheless while McKay looked outright shocked by the prospect of being guarded by the renegade Lieutenant and a Gith bounty hunter. John shot him a don't-even-think-of-arguing-now look for he had the nagging suspicion that the scientist would be one thousand times safer with Ford and Belbe than he or Teyla would be with Veldrin. McKay apparently got the message for he didn't comment on the decision and ordered them into the center of the room.

Taking position between Teyla and the Highexecutor, John noted that the floor in this part of the room was inlaid with crystals which lit up and emitted the familiar white light as soon as Rodney activated the Door to Nothingness.

John could only hope that reaching this room had been the difficult part.

- - - - -

Ford was fuming: Why for heaven's sake was the best fighter of the team reduced to simple guard duty? After all the enzyme granted him superhuman strength, speed and made him immune against Wraith stunners so he was the perfect fit for an attack on Panopticon not a babysitter for arrogant geeks! As usual Sheppard gave him only the most mundane and boring tasks and the fact that he had to guard a certain bothersome astrophysicist made the duty also annoying. Aiden didn't know why but since he had started to take the enzyme McKay's antics had become even harder to bear and he cursed himself for not having told Sheppard to take care of his precious scientist himself.

Because second thoughts weren't helpful at all, the Lieutenant decided to concentrate on the reward the Colonel had offered him instead. If this duty would convince everyone on Atlantis that he was not crazy and that the enzyme was the key to defeat the Wraith, it was a small price to pay even though McKay did his best to make it as annoying as possible. At the moment the scientist was fumbling with the consoles, trying to disable the remaining security systems in order to get access to further programs, muttering and cursing under his breath all the time.

Aiden was wondering whether the astrophysicist was able to work without driving everyone within a ten miles radius mad with his constant babbling when slim but strong arms grabbed him, spun him around and drew him into a passionate kiss. It took the surprised Lieutenant a few moments to realize who was kissing him and was both relieved and shocked when he recognized Belbe. Before he could ask the bounty hunter what she was doing, McKay broke the silence, sounding both outraged and livid:

"That's simply unbelievable!" the scientist snapped, "Your task is to protect me but apparently you're all busy with screwing _her_ again! Just in case you have managed to miss the blindingly obvious she is the reason why we're in this mess and if you would stop thinking with your dick for a few seconds you would realize that flirting with her is a very, very bad idea!"

"Shut up McKay, fiddle with your toys and leave the thoughts about sex life to those who have one!" Ford replied hotly, finally losing his temper with the bothersome astrophysicist.

"What makes you believe that I don't have a sex live?" McKay replied as thought the very idea was ridiculous.

"You're the genius here so I'm sure that you'll figure this out without help!" Aiden stated before tuning out the scientist's angry retort – he wasn't sure what exactly McKay said but a part of his reply sounded like 'cheeky little bugger' – and concentrating back on the reason of the argument, "What was this for?"

"Just wanted to make sure that I've got your whole and undivided attention," Belbe said, looking quite pleased with herself, "Besides I enjoy kissing you and doing so seemed like a good introduction because I want to talk about us!"

"_Us_? What makes you believe that there is an _us_?" the Lieutenant asked, more than a little surprised about this, "We hardly know each other and you have lied to me, dragged me here and forced me to join a rebellion – that's not the way I usually start a relationship!"

"I expected you to react this way," Belbe replied, a hint of sorrow in her voice, "But there are a few things you just got wrong. First of all I never lied to you; I just didn't tell you the whole truth. Second, I already told you that Gix forced me to go after you and you would have ended as his dinner if I hadn't helped you. Everything I have done might have seemed manipulative and cruel but I did it to save both your life and mine! You don't hate me for saving you life, do you?"

For a moment Aiden was convinced that the bounty hunter was pulling his leg but when he saw the worried look in her eyes he realized that she was dead-serious about this and that she actually valued his opinion, a realization that was both flattering and disturbing.

"Of course, I don't hate you," he answered, "Your constant scheming is unsettling and I'm not sure if I can trust you but your one of the most fascinating persons I have ever met. But there's one thing I still don't understand: Why did you risk so much to save me? After all I was just some random guy you spent a night with!"

"You certainly aren't just a random guy and my feelings to you are much..," Belbe started before stopping suddenly and turning slightly red, "Uhm…let's just say that I care for you and would hate to see that gorgeous body of yours damaged!"

It was Aiden's turn to blush and the Necroshade took advantage of his embarrassment by pulling him into another kiss. This time she broke the kiss after a few seconds but only to let her lips wander down over his neck, making him squirm when she found and caressed an extremely sensitive spot.

"Mhmm," he purred, all concern purged from his mind, "I love it when you do this!"

"I know," she replied before breaking the contact, "But unfortunately we have other things to do and there's one more thing I want to tell you: Be careful whom you trust and always read between the lines. It might sound paranoid but this skill kept me alive for more than 20 years and it's better to trust too rarely than to trust too often!"

Before he could find an answer to this, Belbe turned around and resumed her position on the other side of room. Her advice had brought back the old insecurity whether to return to Atlantis or not in full strength and Ford was sure that he couldn't postpone a decision any longer for if Belbe's plan succeeded they would soon be on their way back to his old home. The problem was that he wasn't sure if he was still welcome there, if they would see the benefits of the enzyme or if they would try to lock him up and to strip him of his newfound power.

Even if his team members trusted him – something he had yet to achieve –, he had no idea how Dr. Weir or whoever ran the expedition right now would react. If Colonel Everett still used strong-arm tactics to keep her down, Aiden would probably end up in a military prison as soon as he crossed the event horizon, a thought that wasn't appealing at all.

He decided that he needed more reliable information about the situation in Atlantis before he could find an answer to this question and wondered what would be the best way to get them.

He needed someone who knew enough of Atlantis and who could be i motivated /i to tell him what he needed to know without lying or trying to deceive him.

A sly smile found his way to his features when his gaze fell on McKay – who was so absorbed in his work that he probably had not even realized that Belbe had talked to the Lieutenant – and he decided to have a friendly chat about Atlantis with the scientist as soon as possible. He wondered whether the astrophysicist would enjoy being part of his plans more than the last time.

- - - - -

Panopticon

John and Teyla followed the Highexecutor through the empty corridors of Panopticon, nervously checking their surroundings for further threats. Belbe had told him that the assault on Panopticon was the critical part of the plan for their information about the security measures up here were very limited. Up to now, they hadn't encountered any resistance but in Sheppard's opinion this was bound to change for they were heading towards the private chambers of the Evincar, a strategy which sounded much like suicide to the Colonel. Of course, Veldrin had ignored his complains, arguing that the ruler of Shakuras would probably keep the Seal of Dominion close to himself and that most of the guards were currently on a mission together with Commander Gix, so overpowering the Evincar should be fairly easy.

Though the Highexecutor's argumentation sounded valid, John had the distinct feeling that things wouldn't run that smoothly simply because nothing had worked out as planned today and because they knew virtually nothing about their foe. The only thing Belbe had been able to tell him was that the ruler's name was Crovax and that he had replaced the former Evincar Tichondrius 152 years ago, simply by killing him. Apparently Evincar of Shakuras wasn't a very stable position and whoever occupied the throne probably knew how to defend himself, another point in Sheppard's why-things-will-soon-get-pretty-ugly list. Veldrin interrupted the Colonel's dark musing at this point:

"Quiet now," he whispered, "We're close to Crovax' private chambers and I don't want to attract his attention before we know what we're dealing with!"

John noticed that the architecture was different in this part of the orbital fortress as if the building wanted to match the sinister nature of its occupant. While the rest of Panopticon was a perfect example of the Ancient's graceful style – made out of a bright, silvery metal that reflected the light, filling the corridors with a soft glow and chasing the shadows away – this inner sanctum was made out of black marble and dimly lit, a black pearl within a white oyster. The shadows seemed to close in on the visitors and a sense of impending disaster hung in the air, even stronger than in the City of Traitors itself.

Suddenly the corridor widened into a huge, completely round chamber that was unlike every other they had encountered for it was occupied by more than shadows. In the center of the room was a throne that resembled a Control Chair or at least a more sinister variety made out of the same black stone as the floor and adorned with spikes. Within the massive chair sat a short, stocky man with ebony colored skin who was dressed in a much finer version of the Lifestealers' armor and had a murderous expression on his face. In front of him kneeled a Gith, a Lifestealer by the look of his armor, who was shaking with fear and looked like he had taken several savage beatings. The lights were dimmed and the massive window on the other side did little to illuminate the room, leaving only the throne visible while the rest was cloaked in shadows, a perfect fit for three conspirators who didn't want to be seen.

"Is this the Evincar?" Sheppard whispered, surprised to find such an important position occupied by a human.

"It seems like it," Veldrin mouthed, "Though I have no idea why the Wraith tolerate a human as Evincar of Shakuras. Let's wait to see what happens before we strike, more information about Crovax could come in handy!"

"Please Evincar," the kneeling Lifestealer said, "Spare my life! I haven't done anything wrong!"

"You should know that pleading only motivates me further to end you pitiful existence!" Crovax sneered, exposing triangular, shark-like teeth, "If you hadn't interrupted my highly important thoughts you wouldn't be in this situation now!"

"But Commander Gix ordered me to deliever a highly important message to you!" the Gith cried, despair in his voice, "It was my duty to interrupt…"

"Your duty is to serve me not this insolent would-be bounty hunter!" the Lord of Shakuras snapped, "But wait, I think Tichondrius has something so say in this matter!"

Crovax reached out towards a cushion that lay on the floor next to the throne and produced something that looked remarkably like a Wraith skull which he lifted on eye level. A few moments he locked eyes with empty sockets before addressing the Lifestealer again, an irritated frown on his face.

"Seems like being dead for so long has made Tichondrius soft!" Crovax stated, sounding rather disappointed, "He actually wants me to let you go, claiming that I shouldn't punish you for following orders! I always knew that he hadn't the guts to be a good ruler!"

"This is mad!" Teyla whispered, "We should interfere before he kills an innocent simply to have fun!"

"We certainly won't do this!" Veldrin whispered furiously, "Striking now would mean giving up a tactical advantage! Everything we can learn about the Evincar could be useful when battling him and a confrontation between him and a Lifestealer could be a unique chance to observe his fighting skills and to learn what we're dealing with!"

Teyla's angry retort was stifled by the sound of the Lifestealer's voice which sounded a lot more hopeful than before:

"Shall I return to my duties than, my Lord?" he asked, obviously wanting to get away from Crovax as fast as possible.

"What makes you believe that I would let you go?" Crovax inquired mildly, rising from his throne, "Do you really think that the opinion of my dead predecessor would be of any importance for me?"

The Lifestealer tried to run for it but his tormentor grabbed him and pinned him to the ground with almost no effort. A diabolic grin on his face, the Evincar lifted on of his hands – which looked remarkably like Wraith claws to John, perhaps due to the diffuse light – clearly intending to bury it in the other Gith's chest. However, the execution was cut short by Teyla who abandoned her cover and hit Crovax with a torrent of bullets. While the Lord of Shakuras slumped into his throne, his prisoner ran towards the door, probably convinced that he would be safer out there.

Veldrin and his daggers were already waiting for him, ending his life with a few well placed cuts. The Highexecutor looked angry enough to murder Teyla, an expression that was mirrored on John's fact though his anger had a different target.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked, his voice dripping with hatred, "Teyla saved his life and all you do is to kill him just for the fun of it! Bet you would have loved to see Crovax tearing him into pieces, you sadistic bastard!"

"Watch you tongue Sheppard if you don't want to share his fate!" the Highexecutor snapped, contempt in his voice, "Your friend's nobility was a grave tactical mistake that endangered both the mission and our lives. If you were a true tactician, you would realize that and you would also know that letting the Lifestealer escape would have been suicide! It would have taken only a few minutes until the whole remaining population of Panopticon would have known about our presence! Now, quit bothering me with your petty morals and search the Seal of Dominion!"

McKay's voice interrupted the argument at this point, causing the Colonel's attention to wander from Veldrin to the Gith communicator Belbe had given him earlier this day because normal radios didn't work over such a distance.

"What is it Rodney?" he asked, hoping for some good news.

"Oh thank goodness you're still alive," the scientist replied, sounding relieved, "I have managed to gain access to the Gith database and have found something that's both fascinating and disturbing. According to the research notes of the former Evincar Tichondrius, the current Evincar Crovax is a human with a great amount of Wraith DNA in his system, so be careful when you confront him!"

"You mean he had similar abilities like Teyla?" John asked, wondering if Crovax obvious madness had been caused by a connection to the Wraith's telepathic network.

"Perhaps but the modification probably also enhances his physical abilities," McKay replied, "I haven't read the full reports but it seems possible that he can even feed on humans like a Wraith. But wait, why did you use the word 'had'? Have you already met him?"

"Yes and we have already shot him," Sheppard replied, "Teyla and Veldrin are searching the throne room right now, looking for the seal we need to get out of here so your concern about my safety is touching but unnecessary."

"Are you sure that he is dead?" McKay inquired, concern in his voice, "There is no way to be sure but it is possible that he also has the Wraith's ability to regenerate and is only playing dead!"

John whirled around to face the throne again, expecting to find Crovax' body still lying on it but found nothing but cold stone. Teyla and Veldrin were nowhere to be found, probably busy searching the enormous throne room and oblivious to their enemy's possible resurrection. Before the Colonel could shout them a warning a strong fist connected with his right temple, causing him to stagger to the ground. Suddenly he found himself pinned to the ground beneath the living and seriously angry Crovax who seemed quite determined to return the favor in equal kind.

"Now," the Evincar whispered, "You will see what happens to those who dare to defy me!"

- - - - -

The Door to Nothingness

"Colonel? COLONEL!" McKay shouted into the communicator after Sheppard had failed to answer him for a few seconds, "Oh no, Crovax must have ambushed them! We must go up there and help them!"

Belbe was quite surprised by the scientist's concern for she had always considered McKay as one of the most self-centered persons she had ever met and was surprised the he was willing to risk everything in order to save his friends. Though a part of her actually valued bravery the bigger, rational part of her mind stayed in control and told her to stop the fool before he did something stupid.

"That would be outrageously foolish!" she stated, "We have no idea what exactly happens up there and running there without thinking is the last thing we should do now! I'm quite sure that Veldrin will be able to deal with Crovax for the Evincar isn't the only Gith who has been improved by Tichondrius!"

"You mean Veldrin is also partly Wraith?" Aiden asked, looking quite troubled by the revelation.

"Many of us, including myself, carry the Dark Gift," the bounty hunter explained, "though few are as radically altered as Crovax seems to be. Usually the effects of Tichondrius' experiments improve the physical abilities of the test subjects and their descendants but there are also some who develop telepathic abilities."

"And you are fine with this?" Aiden inquired, "I don't know exactly why but such a connection to the Wraith would make me feel kinda less human!"

"It makes me stronger and there's nothing I could do against it even if it troubled me!" Belbe replied, feeling strangely touched by Aiden's concern, "The only thing the makes me feel uncomfortable is that I have no idea why Tichondrius modified us in the first place. Did he try to make us to better servants or were there other reasons to start such an exhausting and possibly dangerous experiment?"

"The gene!" McKay said, "He wanted to integrate the ATA gene into the Wraith organism so the Wraith could use Ancient technology. According to his notes, he tried this for some time before realizing that it wasn't possible. Perhaps he thought that integrating Wraith DNA into your bodies would somehow alter the gene, eventually overcoming the natural difference between your DNA and his. Of course, I'm only speculating right now and biology was never my best subject but it makes sense and…"

"Hate to interrupt you, doc, but I think you should have a look at this!" Aiden said, pointing to a holographic image of Shakuras which had appeared a few seconds ago, "If it my eyes or is this a Wraith ship coming here?"

"_Predator_!" Belbe gasped, "That's not possible! Gix said it would take him about 36 hours to get here!"

Suddenly the Door to Nothingness activated and three Lifestealers as well as a certain Wraith materialized, fully armed and not at all surprised to find the room filled with dead Gith.

"Hello, Necroshade," Gix said, triumph in his voice, "I guess it's time to end this little rebellion of yours!"


	5. Grand Melee

Chapter 5: Grand Melee

_Loyalty, the fifth myth of reality;  
in the web of war the bounds of  
loyalty become as fragile as glass! _

_The nature of reality, Gith database_

"Too bad you can't see the look on your face right now!" Gix taunted, "This that-can't-be-happening look is priceless!"

"I must admit that you have managed to surprise me," Belbe stated dryly, apparently having overcome her surprise, "How did you manage to get her that fast? Have you shrunk both _Predator_ and your ego so you could use a Stargate to get here?"

"Not exactly," the Wraith said, ignoring her sarcasm, "Recently I ordered some modifications on _Predator_'s hyperdrive, enabling us to travel a lot faster for a short period of time. I had the distinct feeling that keeping this new potential secret might come in handy if someone would choose to betray me and obviously I was right not to fill you in!"

"Yes, you're a really smart Wraith!" the Necroshade replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm, "It has taken you only 10 years to realize that you can't trust me, that's really quite impressing! I'm surprised that you even made it to Commander with this limited knowledge of Gith nature! By the by what makes you believe that you and your three henchmen have a chance against us?"

Aiden shared the bounty hunter's optimism for he was pretty sure that with the help of both Belbe and the enzyme he would be able to subdue the Lifestealers as well as their Wraith CO. McKay and Gix seemed to disagree with the Lieutenant at this point for the scientist seemed cowed by Gix' threat and took cover behind the console he had been working on – Ford made a mental note to make sure that the annoying astrophysicist survived the skirmish, after all he still needed him – while the Wraith continued to smile his icy, smug smile.

"I have hunted humans centuries before you or your allies were born so I'm sure that we're more than evenly matched!" Gix said before turning towards his minions, "You take care of Belbe and the other human while I will find out how extraordinary this Lieutenant Ford really is!"

Having given his orders, Gix rushed into battle, crossing half of the room with a single jump and landing next to the Lieutenant, hitting his opponent with a vicious backhand swing. The force of the blow caused Aiden to stumble backwards, unable to stop the Wraith from casually snatching his P90 and tossing it aside like a broken toy. However, Gix didn't press his advantage and waited calmly for the Lieutenant to get back on his feet, completely undisturbed by the battle between Belbe and his subordinates that raged nearby.

Fuming, Ford got back on his feet and wiped the blood from his split lip, determined to make the Wraith pay for his arrogance. Gix may have drawn first blood and had grabbed one of his weapons but he didn't need his P90 to draw last. After a quick glance in Belbe's direction to make sure that the Lifestealers were still busy with fighting the bounty hunter, he fired several Wraith stunners in Gix's direction, making a mental note not to lose this weapon as well.

However, Gix seemed far from impressed by this assault and evaded the stunners by jumping to a nearby wall, rebounding from it and slamming into Aiden with the full force of his momentum. The impact knocked the wind out of the Lieutenant and sent him on a one-way journey to the wall behind him, rendering him once again helpless to defend himself.

He felt blood running down the back his head what accompanied by a massive, pounding pain indicated a concussion as well as a serious laceration. These injuries combined with several cracked ribs – another result of his involuntary tête-à-tête with the wall – would probably have laid him low if the enzyme wasn't improving his endurance and heightening his threshold of pain. After a few excruciating seconds the pain started to faint and everything slid back into focus, revealing Gix who was looking down on him and was currently busy with extracting each of his weapons out of his uniform and tossing them aside.

"Disappointing!" the Wraith said to apparently no one in particular, "I had expected a better fight after all problems that one has caused. Well, you can't have everything and there's still Belbe to fight against!"

Aiden noticed that Gix apparently thought him unconscious or at least unable to continue the fight and decided to use this opportunity to finally turn the tide of the battle. He made his move when the Wraith turned his head to observe the fight between Belbe and the Lifestealers – which had apparently turned from a gun fight into a grand melee in which the bounty hunter was hard pressed to defend herself against three enemies at once –, sweeping Gix' legs away and trying to pin the Commander to the ground.

At first Gix was too surprised to fight back but he recovered quickly enough to avoid being immobilized and eventually pinned the Lieutenant beneath him. The familiar arrogant smile returned to his features when he regarded the thrashing Aiden who desperately tried to wiggle out of the towering Wraith's grip.

"Your struggle is futile!" Gix said, sounding more than a little pleased with himself, "But before I feed on you I want to tell you that you've managed to impress me. Few humans would fight on with injuries like that and in close combat you're almost toe-to-toe with me. Care to tell me the secret of your strength before you die?"

Aiden decided not to waste valuable energy by telling the Wraith to go to hell and concentrated on getting out of this mess instead. If only Gix loosened his grip a bit, it would be easy to break free but he guessed that the chances that the Wraith would do him this favor where slim indeed.

"I'll take this as a 'no'!" Gix stated after a few seconds of watching Ford struggle, "Well, it probably wasn't as impressive as my exoskeleton anyway. You see, my armor was designed by Evincar Tichondrius himself as a token of appreciation for many years of loyal service. It not only provides excellent protection but vastly enhances my speed as well as my ability to jump, making me almost unbeatable in combat! But you know all of this already because you have experienced its benefits first-hand when fighting me! I could go one like this for hours but unfortunately there are more pressing matters to attend and I'm starting to feel a bit pesky so this is your last chance for any heroic last words!"

While waiting for the Lieutenant to respond, Gix raised his right hand in order to plunge it in his intended victim's chest. Felling his captor's grip lessen, Aiden realized that this was the opportunity he had waited for and that despite his experience Gix had made the same mistake twice: he believed that the fight was already over.

"You know," Ford said while subtly shifting his weight, "I feel flattered by your attention but I really prefer being on top!"

Before Gix could find an answer to this, Aiden broke free of his grip and kicked the Wraith in the stomach, shoving him of his chest in the process. Not wanting to give the Commander any time to recover, he quickly pinned Gix down in the very same position as he had been only seconds before. However, his tactical advantage was quite short-lived for his opponent freed himself when Ford was busy with pulling his knife – the only weapon he had left – out of his uniform and used his exoskeleton to jump out of reach.

"You really should stop to underestimate me!" the Lieutenant taunted, "Even in my maimed state I'm still more than a match for you!"

"I'll kill you for this insolence!" Gix snarled, before once again crossing half the room with a single jump, probably trying to slam into Ford for the second time.

Aiden allowed himself a small smile – Gix was so predictable – and sidestepped the attack, causing the Wraith to hit not him but the wall with his considerable momentum. A satisfying crunching sound told him that the armor – that looked slightly different from the usual Wraith armors and seemed to be made out of a light and quite flexible metal-like material – hadn't been able to absorb the full force of the impact and that his opponent would be out of the picture for a few moments, time he wanted to use for finding a suitable weapon.

"Ford, catch!" McKay yelled, tossing him his Wraith stunner, "Hurry up and finish this, I'm getting nervous with all this fighting nearby!"

The Lieutenant didn't bother to answer McKay but rather fired two stunners on the still dazed Gix, hitting him in the chest and finally knocking him out. With his opponent rendered helpless, he searched the room for Belbe and the remaining Lifestealers, wondering if the bounty hunter might need his help. However, his concern was unnecessary for she had already knocked two of her opponents out with taking more than a few bruises and a cut on her left cheek and was currently involved in a heated melee with the last standing Gith.

Without the adrenaline of the battle gone, his headache returned in full strength, reminding him of the injuries that he sported and that he'd better give himself another shot of enzyme if he wanted to stay on his feet. Dropping down to his knees next to Gix' inert form, he placed the knife on the Wraith's arm and started to cut out his enzyme pouch when McKay interrupted him:

"Wait! I think…"

"I don't care what you think McKay!" he replied testily, guessing that the astrophysicist was about to give him another the-enzyme-is-bad-and-you-shouldn't-take-it talk, "I'm busy right now, so stop interrupting me!"

What exactly the scientist had wanted to tell him became obvious a few seconds later, when Gix opened his eyes and used his intact arm to push the Lieutenant away from him. The Wraith shakily got back to his feet, his uninjured hand wrapped around the wound on his right arm and a murderous expression on his face.

"I'll kill you for this the next time we meet!" Gix snarled, hatred in his voice, "No human defies Commander Gix and lives to tell the tale!"

Before Aiden got the chance to finish him off, Gix pressed some controls and jumped towards the now active Door to Nothingness, dematerializing as soon as he touched the ground. The last standing Lifestealer tried to follow his CO but was stopped by Belbe who used her opponent's distraction to drive a vicious punch home, knocking the Gith out.

"Seems like we have won this fight!" the bounty hunter stated while McKay deactivated the transporter, "But it's a pity that Gix had escaped for I have the feeling that we'll see him again sooner than we might like. After all, 10 years of working for him have told me that there is nothing worse than a Wraith with a wounded ego, so we should either kill him or get out of his reach as soon as possible!"

"I prefer the second option," Ford said, sitting down so the world would stop spinning, "I'm in no state to fight him a second time!"

"If you had listened to my warning, Gix probably wouldn't have escaped and we wouldn't be in this situation!" McKay snapped, "You didn't realize that he was still conscious because you were all-occupied with getting another fix and now we're once again screwed because Super Ford messed things up! As if things wouldn't be bad enough already we now have a Wraith ship to worry about whose Commander is holding a serious grudge against all of us and will probably have us blasted into oblivion!"

"Oh, quit being so melodramatic, McKay!" Aiden replied, in no mood to argue with the scientist, "Do you really think that Gix would risk destroying the Door to Nothingness as well as the city only to kill you? I'm speculating now, but I guess that the Evincar might have some objections to having his city destroyed and would probably use this Ray Cannon to blast i Predator /i out of the sky, so I guess we're quite safe here for some time. Thanks for the stunner by the way, your timing was excellent."

"What? Oh, no problem," the astrophysicist said, looking quite surprised by Ford's gratitude, "But there's something I don't understand: Why did Gix flee at all? No offence but he had almost defeated you without taking more than a few bruises and this cut in the arm, both not serious enough to be a reason for him to retreat!"

"This cut wasn't as mundane as you might think," the Lieutenant stated, "The enzyme pouch is one of the most important Wraith organs and injuring it makes it impossible for them to feed on humans until it is healed. Such wounds bleed heavily so I guess Gix didn't want to risk a fight without the ability to heal himself by feeding on us."

"Speaking of wounds, if you want I can have a look at yours, Aiden," Belbe offered, "You look terribly messed up and I guess we have a few more battles to fight before this coup is over!"

"Still no message from Sheppard or Teyla!" Ford heard McKay say while Belbe started to patch him up, "Let's hope that means that they don't need our help."

Even though McKay really tried to sound hopeful, no one in the room was naïve enough to believe in this.

- - - - -

_Predator_

Gix was livid when he finally arrived at _Predator_'s bridge, swatting a Lifestealer out of the way who had blocked the path to his chair. Once he had sat down he paused a moment to examine the heavily bandaged wound on his right arm. The bluish Gith bandages were much more than the ordinary cloth many human cultures used when dealing with wounds for they were able to staunch even severe bleedings within seconds and vastly accelerated the healing process.

It galled the Commander that he had to rely on Gith technology to treat his wounds but without the ability to feed properly it was a necessary evil. With his enzyme pouch partly cut out, his victim would die almost instantly after the feeding process has started, leaving Gix without the energy he needed to heal himself. He made a mental note to kill this Lieutenant Ford as painful as possible the next time they met and was just busy with determine the most painful way to kill someone when one of his subordinates addressed him:

"Welcome back, Commander! What are your orders?"

"Any message from Crovax yet?" the Wraith inquired, resisting the temptation to kill the Gith for interrupting his thoughts.

"Not yet my Lord," the Lifestealer replied, apparently wise enough not to ask Gix what the reason for his injury was or what had happened on the planet.

The Commander wondered what he should make out of Crovax' silence: Was the Evincar just busy with killing some random human just for the fun of it – a hobby Gix considered as a big waste of food and time – or had Belbe and her fellow conspirators already slain him? Not that the brute's death would bother Gix – in fact he would actually enjoy getting rid of the mad ruler himself – but if Belbe laid hand on the Seal of Dominion and gained control of Panopticon _Predator_ would be powerless to stop her rebellion anymore.

He toyed with the idea to attack the Door to Nothingness again with more troops, using it to enter and search Panopticon but discarded the thought when he realized that he had no idea how many conspirators they might be facing. He doubted that Belbe was willing or able to start an upheaval like that without Highexecutor Veldrin's permission and support what could mean that the entire Shadow Legion was involved in the putsch, making reclaiming Panopticon virtually impossible for _Predator_ had a relatively small crew of about 50 Gith and 10 Wraith.

Of course that was another, more radical method to make sure that the Ray Cannon never fell in the Gith's hands but Gix was hesitant to employ it because it would put both him and his ship into serious danger. He cursed Belbe and her puny treachery that forced him to do something that drastic and added her name to the humans-who-would-soon-die-a-slow-and-agonizing-death-list.

"Set course to Panopticon and activate our weapons," he ordered, enjoying the shocked expression on his subordinates' faces.

"But Commander, the Evincar will destroy us for threatening Panopticon and _Predator_ is no match for the Ray Cannon!" his first mate – Gix had never bothered to learn his name for human names sounded all alike to him – argued, "Attacking the orbital fortress is suicide!"

"Questioning me is equally dangerous!" Gix responded, grabbing the Lifestealer at the throat with his uninjured hand and lifting him to eye level, "You do what I order you to do and if you object me ever again I'll make sure that you'll regret it! Am I clear?"

The Gith couldn't respond, of course, for he was busy with trying not to suffocate but Gix took his labored gasps as a 'yes' and dropped him unceremoniously to the ground. Paying him no more heed, the Commander addressed the rest of his crew, determined to make sure that they won't question his orders again:

"Any further objections to my plan?" he asked, breaking into a cruel smile when no one dared to answer, "Good, I would have hated to kill anyone of you simply to discipline the rest! Oh, and just to make sure that you have no illusions about my intentions: I don't want to threaten or capture Panopticon, I want to destroy it!"

- - - - -

Panopticon

John tried to break free of Corvax' vise-like grip but with both luck and gravity against him his struggle was pointless and only caused the Evincar's claws – which he now considered as a result of Tichondrius' experiments and not as an optical illusion caused by the faint light – to cut into his back. Crovax didn't even try to stop the Colonel; probably knowing that there was no way the human could break free without help.

"Quit struggling!" the Evincar growled, keeping his voice low – probably to keep Teyla and Veldrin out of the picture until he was finished with John, "You're only hurting yourself, ruining my fun in the process! Hmm, what could be the best way to kill you? I could rip out your throat and let you bleed out – no, that's not nearly slow enough. Perhaps painful enough but not slow enough. Or I could – no, that's slow but not painful enough. I really don't know what to do! What do you think, Tichondrius, what shall I do with him?"

Fortunately for John not Tichondrius' but Teyla's voice which broke the silence, causing the Evincar to growl in irritation:

"Colonel? Colonel, where are you?"

"Don't worry, I'll come back to you in a few moments," Crovax hissed, "I'll just make sure that your little friend over there doesn't feel left out!"

John groaned when the Evincar's weight suddenly left him and tried to get up or at least to shout a warning to the Athosian but Crovax' grip had left him dazed and close to suffocation so he spend the first 30 seconds of his freedom with trying to draw breath properly. However, the movement seemed to have gotten Teyla's attention for she appeared at his side a few moments later.

"What happened, Colonel?" she asked, worry evident in her voice, "Are that i claw /i marks on your back?"

"Careful..," John gasped, "Corvax not dead…close by…wants to kill you!"

"Of course I want to kill her, after all she drove about a dozen bullets into me!" the Lord of Shakuras stated, dropping from the ceiling right behind Teyla.

Teyla span around and pulled the trigger of her P90 but this time several crystals inlaid in the Evincar's armor lit up and an energy shield deflected the attack. Crovax put on an arrogant grin when he answered with a couple of lightning fast counterattacks, hitting his opponent in the chest, knocking the wind out of her and disarming her.

Before the Evincar could press his advantage, John had finally recovered and tried to sweep his legs away, causing Crovax to stumble and to loose the newly acquired weapon. His move had apparently bought Teyla the time she needed to recover for she engaged Crovax into a vicious hand-to-hand combat which was way too fast for John to actually follow.

At first it seemed like the Athosian had gained the upper hand, she was definitely faster than her massive opponent and managed to dodge almost every blow he aimed at her. However, Crovax was one of the toughest persons Sheppard had ever seen for despite getting hit far more often than Teyla, the blows seemed to have much less effect on him than on his opponent.

Not wanting to take any chances, John retrieved and readied his CMG in order to pierce Crovax' personal shield but was hesitant to use it while Teyla was in the line of fire. He toyed with the idea of joining the melee but guessed that he would be more a burden than an actual help for the Athosian because despite training with her for so long, he still wasn't even close to reaching her skill in hand-to-hand combat.

The Evincar's painful howl broke into his train of thought, causing Sheppard to concentrate on the brawl again. Teyla looked exhausted and severely bruised but had apparently gave Crovax a good whack on the head with her reclaimed P90, resulting in a nasty-looking laceration at his right temple. However, the Lord of Shakuras recovered startling quickly, taking the Athosian by surprise and hitting her with a series of vicious counterattacks aimed at her head and her chest. Unable to defend herself properly, Teyla took the full force of the blows that sent her flying towards the now deserted throne where she slumped to the ground, apparently knocked out.

Crovax flashed Sheppard a toothy grin that looked more like a leer than an actual smile and turned his attention back to the Colonel. John realized that the wound Teyla had inflicted was already half healed – leaving no traces except a bluish bruise that was healing as he watched – and was unpleasantly reminded of his encounter with the 10000 year-old Wraith months ago. Determined not to make this fight a reversal of last time – which would be pretty bad because there was no Jumper in sight this time – he decided to avoid melee and brought his CMG to bear instead, letting loose several bullets loose in Crovax' direction.

The Evincar calmly hold his ground and activated his personal shield, obviously either unaware of the shield-breaking effects of the projectiles or well, simply crazy which was an option Sheppard really couldn't rule out. Three of the CMG bullets found their mark, slamming right through Corvax' chest, right arm and left shoulder, oblivious to the energy shield the Evincar had created in front of him. Looking both surprised and livid, the Evincar brought his wounded arm to eye level and broke into a shark-like grin when the wound closed after a few seconds.

When John tried to fire again, hoping to finally overtax his opponent's regenerative ability but instead of a projectile only a single clicking sound emerged from his CMG. Now absolutely sure that his streak of bad luck was still far from over, Sheppard realized that he had ran out of ammo and had to fight Crovax without means to break through this annoying energy shield.

"Seems like you now have to fight without your toy," Crovax taunted, "Let's see if you fare better than your little friend over there!"

John dropped the now useless Gith weapon and went for his P90 instead but his opponent gave him no time to use it. Apparently tired of playing with the Colonel, Crovax lunged forward and tried to rip the other human's throat out with his claws. Sheppard stepped back just in time to avoid getting killed but one of the claws raked his left biceps and left a painful and heavily bleeding wound. Before he could recover from the blow, a fist connected with his lower jar, causing the world to get all fuzzy and sending him on a one-way journey to the ground.

He saw the blurred form of the Evincar looming above him and braced himself for the final blow which would lead into oblivion. Though he wasn't a very religious person, John sent a final prayer to whatever deity might feel responsible for reckless pilots who always managed to get into trouble that the rest of his team would survive and that Atlantis would be safe. Then he closed his eyes, not wanting to witness the deathblow and the expression Crovax would wear when killing him.

Instead of the distinct sound of a clawed hand whistling through the air, the next thing he heard was the familiar, horrible sound of Veldrin's daggers ripping through flesh. Opening his eyes again, he saw that the Highexecutor was just busy with retrieving his knifes which were buried up to the hilt in Crovax' back. They came free with a sickening, slurping sound that made John want to throw up and plastered a triumphant smile on their owner's face who calmly took a step back, apparently quite sure that his opponent was as good as dead.

However, the Evincar was far from finished and when he turned around to lunge at his new opponent with one claw, Sheppard saw that the cuts in his back were already closing – much slower than any injury he or Teyla had inflicted but closing nevertheless. Veldrin overcame his surprise fast enough to teleport to safety, reappearing a few meters away with a rather shocked expression on his face.

"Veldrin! That explains how this vermin managed to get into my throne room!" Crovax sneered, "But your treachery and puny intrigues will get you nowhere, you pathetic opportunist! I have slain everyone who dared to defy me and you'll have to do better than that if you want to defeat me!"

"As usual you're far too full of yourself, Crovax!" Veldrin responded, looking completely unconcerned by his opponent's sudden recovery, "Your regenerative abilities are impressing but they won't save you from me! I'll kill you like I would kill a _real_ Wraith: Cut him once and he'll heal, cut him thirty times and he'll perish! Farwell, Crovax, I'm already looking forward to search your corpse for the precious seal I'm looking for!"

Again, Veldrin disappeared in a soft blue light and appeared behind his opponent, pushing his daggers right into the half-healed flesh before vanishing again and rematerializing in front of Crovax were he continued his gory work. He repeated this process another 4 times; never giving Crovax any chance to defend himself. John thought he heard a faint popping sound when the Highexecutor finally sheathed his daggers and watched his opponent drop to the ground, a mixture of triumph and remorse on his face.

The reason for Veldrin's displeasure became evident when the Highexecutor rolled up his left sleeve, revealing an ornate bracelet inlaid with several blackened crystals. John guessed that this was the device that enabled his unloved ally to teleport and that the stress of the last minutes had caused the trinket to burn out, a conclusion that was apparently shared by the Highexecutor.

"Damn this pathetic would-be Wraith!" he cursed, throwing the bracelet away, "Let's hope that disposing him was worth the effort!"

While John got back on his feet and bound his arm with some bandages out of his backpack, Veldrin was busy with searching Crovax' unmoving form and eventually produced an ornate, silvery amulet. All remaining anger vanished from the Gith's face and was replaced by the first genuine smile John had ever seen on his face.

"Thanks for saving my ass," he said while helping the conscious but still dazed Teyla back to her feet, "Did you find what we've been looking for?"

"I didn't interfere to save you but to get the Seal," Veldrin stated without taking his eyes from the amulet, "And yes, this is the Seal of Dominion, the token that marks its bearer as Evincar of Shakuras! Now, Panopticon is mine and the Wraith's rule over the Gith is over once and for all!

"We have fulfilled our part of the bargain, so now make sure that we can leave this dammed planet!" Sheppard said, not quite convinced that the new Evincar would keep his promise.

Veldrin gave him a cold smile and moved over to his predecessors' deserted throne which lit up and leaned back much like the control chair in Atlantis. The Gith seemed lost in thoughts for a moment before opening his eyes again and concentrating back on his allies:

"I have deactivated both the energy shield and the security algorithm that actives it, so you should have no problem with getting out of here anymore," he said, "Now you should head back before…what the hell is _Predator_ doing here?"

A series of vibrations followed his words that knocked everyone except Veldrin to the ground and told John that something was horrible wrong. When he had regained his footing he realized that a holographic image had appeared in midair, depicting Panopticon as well as a Wraith cruiser that fired at the orbital fortress.

"What the hell is going on?" he asked Veldrin, having the distinct feeling that this meant more trouble for him.

"_Predator_ is trying to destroy us," the former Highexecutor answered, his mind clearly on other things, "Our shields absorb the damage for now but if I don't manage to get the Ray Cannon up soon we're in serious trouble!"

Before Sheppard could ask him why the Ray Cannon hadn't already pulverized the Wraith ship, he spotted a movement out of the corner of his eyes and turned around just in time to see Crovax staggering out of the room, still bleeding out of several wounds. This also got Veldrin's attention who threw one of his daggers at the fleeing Evincar, missing him narrowly.

"What are you waiting for?" he bellowed, "Go and get him!"

"No," John said flatly, "I am done with being a pawn on your chessboard. We have done what you wanted us to do and now we'll get out of here as fast as possible! If you want Crovax, go after him yourself!"

The new Evincar shot John a murderous look and seemed to consider killing him here and now but was apparently hesitant to do so without the ability to teleport. The dangerous moment passed and Veldrin tugged his remaining dagger back into his clothing, while pulling out his communicator.

"Belbe, I need you to get up here and search for the former Evincar Crovax," he said, "Make sure that he doesn't leave the orbital fortress!"

"I'm on my way, Highexe…um, I mean Evincar," Belbe replied, only to be interrupted by McKay who urged her to ask Veldrin about Teyla and Sheppard.

The Evincar tossed the communicator to John who interpreted this as a new way of getting dismissed, an order he was happy to oblige. Motioning Teyla to follow him, he started to make his way towards the transporter that would get him back to the City of Traitors and eventually back home. Another tremor shook the orbital fortress; reminding him that he was still far from safe and that should get out of here if he didn't want to be reduced to dust along with Panopticon. He noticed that Veldrin continued to sit in his new throne what meant that either he had a plan up his sleeve to safe his new fortress or that he was oblivious to the danger he was in.

Sprinting through the corridors with Teyla, he activated the Gith communicator and contacted McKay to find out if the Door to Nothingness was still safe as well as to give new orders to the scientist.

"McKay, this is Sheppard," he said, "We have deactivated the energy field and are on the way back to you!"

"Finally some good news," the scientist replied, "It's about time that we get away from here. We have been attacked by a Wraith called Gix and he could be back any moment so it would be great if you could hurry!"

"Is everyone okay?" John asked, worried not only about Ford and McKay but also about Belbe who unlike Veldrin didn't treat him like a pawn on the chessboard.

"Well, Ford is little battered but Belbe took care of most of his wounds," Rodney stated, a hint of disapproval in his voice when he spoke about the bounty hunter, "I'm currently busy with copying part of the Gith database onto a crystal so we can take it back to Atlantis. It seems like that great parts of it are damaged or restricted but given enough time I'm sure that I can restore and copy those parts."

"Listen, Rodney!" John interrupted before McKay got all excited about copying an Ancient database, "Panopticon is under attack and I'm not sure if we can make it out in time so I want you to take Ford and whatever information you have and to get to the Gate. You should reach it without problems if you take the same way we took earlier. If we don't catch up to you in the next 30 minutes, dial out and tell Atlantis what happened to us."

"No way, I'm not going to leave you here!" McKay snapped, "Quit playing the hero and concentrate on getting out of Panopticon alive! We'll all leave together!"

"Trust me Rodney this is the only way to make sure that at least some of us come out of this alive," John said, "Do what I tell you or I'll order Ford to drag you back to Atlantis!"

"Fine!" the astrophysicist responded furiously, "I'll go but if something happens to you remember that I was against it in the first place!"

John guessed that McKay being right was the last thing he would thing about when things went i that /i wrong.

- - - - -

Panopticon, transport chamber

"'I would hate to see that gorgeous body of yours damaged'" Belbe quoted herself, shaking her head, "Why in the name of the Legion did I say something like that? He probably thinks that I'm some kind of bounty hunter whore who jumps every handsome guy she lays eyes on!"

Since she had been ordered to guard the transporter that led back to the Door to Nothingness she had passed her time with thinking about her relationship with Aiden – if you want to call it that way. The good news was that he had no hard feelings about her bringing him here and even had admitted being fascinated by her, a revelation that had really touched her. Gith rarely made compliments and if they did they called you cunning, manipulative, ruthless, ambitious, insidious or a combination of these attributes, so being called fascinating was something completely new to her.

As flattered as she was by his reaction as angry she was at herself for reacting the way she had. Originally, she had intended to tell him that she felt more than physical attraction for him – another aspect she was unfamiliar with for Gith were by no means romantic and she had never felt the urge for more after a night with a man before – but had been hesitant to do so when she had the opportunity and had made up this pathetic excuse to avoid telling him more about her feelings.

At first she had blamed her experience as a bounty hunter for this sudden change of heart, guessing that her instincts had stopped her from revealing a weakness. Though the logic behind this explanation sounded valid – revealing a weakness was something no Gith would do voluntarily for it was likely that your enemies would learn about it and exploit it – she guessed that it wasn't the true reason for her cowardice.

Perhaps the problem was that she didn't know what exactly she wanted from Aiden and had gotten cold feet when she tried to explain something she didn't even understand herself. The more she considered this thought the more sense it made, after all the only thing she knew for certain was that she liked Aiden too much to hurt him or to get him deliberately into harm's way, another point on her things-that-never-happened-to-me-before list.

Like most Gith, she was used to put every being she encounter into one of two categories: There were enemies who had to be disposed of as quickly and efficiently as possible and there were the others who could be exploited at will and served as tools to get what you wanted. Up to now, the only person that really mattered in this scheme had been herself and that she suddenly had qualms about using someone, was as disturbing as it was unexpected.

In her position as a high ranking member of the Unseen, as designated right hand of Evincar Veldrin, she couldn't afford weakness of any kind for it was unlikely that the new ruler would consider her personal feelings on whatever schemes might be on his mind. She had no illusions about the former Highexecutors' tolerance for failure and falling out of his grace would be unpleasant, dangerous and possibly deadly so it would be best to avoid it as long as possible.

She hoped that Veldrin would concentrate on fighting the Wraith because she would be in serious trouble if he ordered her to capture or even kill Aiden. She had no idea what she should do at such an occasion because she wasn't sure if she could kill him and because defying Veldrin would be suicide so she made a mental note to avoid this dilemma at the first place.

The orbital fortress quaked again, reminding her that this was not the right place to contemplate about her love life and that she should keep her eyes open for the former Evincar Crovax. It galled her that for the second time this day she had been ordered to do boring and single-minded guard duty – searching Panopticon for her target would take ages so she had decided to simply wait for him to come here – but arguing with Veldrin while the former Highexecutor was busy with securing his new power was probably even more dangerous than arguing with Gix had been.

Guarding a transporter within an orbital fortress that was under fire from _Predator_ – she had overheard Sheppard telling McKay about the attack while using the Door to Nothingness to get up here – wasn't safe either but she was quite confident that Veldrin would take care of Gix and she still could use the transporter again if things started to get out of hand.

She snapped out of her thoughts when something moved at the corner of her field of vision and immediately activated her cloaking device while cursing her lack of vigilance. Once invisible she carefully moved into the direction of the movement, making sure to stay close of to wall so the possible intruder wouldn't accidentally slam into her. However, the corridor in front of her was deserted, causing her to wonder if her eyes had played a trick on her and the stress of the last hours had finally taken its toll.

Dismissing her suspect as paranoia – a term she had learned on one of her many journeys for few Gith actually believed that there was a pathological amount of caution – she became visible again and intended to resume her position in a shadowy corner next to the transporter. Remaining invisible would be a huge tactical advantage but her amulet needed time to recharge so she didn't use it unless it was strictly necessary.

Only seconds after she had dismissed her invisibility a Wraith stunner slammed into her back, causing her to slump helplessly to the ground. Her steelsilk armor – made out of extremely resistant and surprisingly light metal fibers that offered excellent protection without slowing its wearer down – absorbed part of the blast and saved her from being knocked out cold but couldn't ward off the resulting paralysis entirely.

Unable to move more than her eyes, all she could do was watch when her assailant dropped from the ceiling right in front of her. Judging by the armor and the wounds the ebony-skinned man sported she had finally found Crovax, former Evincar of Shakuras, but on completely other terms than she had expected. Crovax lifted on of his clawed hands much like the Wraith did when they wanted to feed on someone and she wondered if she would die right here on the hands of a Gith/Wraith hybrid because she had been stupid enough to let her guard down in the wrong moment.

Before her captor could finish her off, another much more intensive tremor shook Panopticon, causing Crovax to loose his footing. When he had struggled back to his feet he didn't close in on her again but headed for the transporter.

"A pity I don't have time to suck the life out of you, traitor!" he said while activating the teleporter, "But I have more pressing matters to attend and I'm sure that there will be time to kill you later!"

Belbe made a mental note to kill the former Evincar for this and hoped that the feeling would return to her limbs before Panopticon exploded.

- - - - -

Crovax' former throne room

"This is not good," Veldrin stated matter-of-factly when he studied the holographic display that hovered in front of him.

According to the display, shields were down to 20 of their usual capacity and the Ray Cannon wasn't even close to being sufficiently charged. By now, the new Evincar had identified the reason for the strange inactivity of the fabled weapon but had yet to find a solution for this problem, preferably before the energy shields protecting Panopticon failed completely.

The Ray Cannon was powered by three separate ZPMs whose power was used to create an artificial vacuum that functioned as a gigantic version of a ZPM and provided the necessary energy for the weapon. At the moment the vacuum was just being created and didn't generate enough energy for the Ray Cannon to shoot, rendering Veldrin unable to do anything against _Predator_'s assault for Panopticon carried no other weapons anymore. A weapon system that used so-called 'drones' was mentioned in the database but they had been used up when the Ancients had attacked the City of Traitors and apparently his predecessors hadn't bothered to replace them.

Usually, the charging process was completed in a about 30 seconds but at the moment a great part of the ZPMs energy was needed to power the shields so the extremely taxing process took much longer than usual. Veldrin had considered to divert energy from the shields to the weapon system but had discarded the thought due to the high risk of getting blown up in the process.

He had even checked the database for a similar combat situation only to find out that up to now Panopticon's deep room sensors had located every threat soon enough to prevent such a predicament. Veldrin hated to admit it but at moment he felt quite checkmated by Gix, a feeling he hated above all. He knew that he had to find a solution if he wanted to keep his new position, so he began checking the blueprints and technical instructions again, searching for something he had overlooked.

He found what he was looking for in the part of the instructions that dealt with catastrophic events that could occur when the Ray Cannon was powered. According to the manual, a sudden increase of the power supply could trigger a chain-reaction in the building vacuum that could destroy Panopticon but could also vastly speed up the charging process. Even though he despised gambling and had no idea how much energy would be generated, he decided to grasp this straw because he was rapidly running out of options. A strong enough impulse, powered by energy from the shields, should charge the Ray Cannon sufficiently to blast _Predator_ into a million pieces – provided everything worked out as planned.

Veldrin gave the required mental commands before lifting himself out of his throne and running towards the transport chamber. He had done everything he could and wanted to make sure that he was close to a teleporter should his actions actually destroy the orbital fortress.

- - - - -

_Predator_

"Panopticon's shields are almost down!" the first mate reported, "Only a few more hits and the fortress will be destroyed!"

"Excellent!" Gix replied, feeling a grim satisfaction, witnessing the destruction of Crovax' former fortress, "Divert all expendable energy to the weapons and finish this as soon as possible!"

"What are you doing with MY fortress???" a familiar and unpleasant voice behind him said, "I want you to stop this, NOW!"

"Ignore this order," the Commander stated before turning around to face his livid visitor, "How nice of you to join us in this crucial moment, Crovax! Seems like Panopticon is indeed in the hands of Belbe and her fellow conspirators. I'm sure that you understand that we cannot allow them to gain control of the Ray Cannon so we'll destroy the weapon as well as the fortress that harbors it!"

"You certainly won't do this!" Crovax hissed, "I'll reclaim my fortress and destroy everyone who tries to stop me! And this includes you, Gix, so do yourself a favor and stop trying to destroy Panopticon!"

Gix was far from impressed by the former Evincar's threats for Crovax looked as battered as he felt and wore several makeshift bandages over half-healed wounds. Even with his injured right arm, he was quite confident that he would be able to defeat the ignorant brute so there was no need to answer diplomatically:

"You're in no position to threaten me, you foolish savage!" he snapped, considering killing Crovax right here, in front on his crew, "If you don't shut up, I'll have you transported back into your precious fortress and reduce both of you to dust!"

The former Evincar started to give an angry retort but was interrupted by one of Gix's subordinates:

"Commander!" the Lifestealer said, panic in his voice, "The Ray Cannon has just fired a full salve into out direction!"

"That's impossible! How did they – PREPARE FOR IMPACT!" Gix yelled, clinging to his chair and wondering how things could have gone so terribly wrong.

Seconds after his warning, the Ray Cannon's energy beam found its mark, hitting _Predator_ frontal and obliterating great part of its hull. Everyone on the bridge lost his or her footing and was blinded by the resulting explosion. When it felt safe to do so, Gix opened his eyes and was surprised to see that he was still alive. Tough several consoles had been smashed and a few circuits had been laid open, the bridge was still largely intact, which was quite surprising, considering the fabled destructive power of the Ray Cannon.

"Report," he ordered his battered but still living subordinates who were busy getting back to their feet and nursing minor injuries that had been caused by the impact.

"We have lost our shield, our weapons and a great part of the hull," his first mate reported, "There is minor damage on our secondary systems but otherwise we're still intact. Apparently the Ray Cannon was charged to only about 10 percent because otherwise we wouldn't be here anymore. However, we most certainly won't survive another hit."

"Is the hyperdrive still intact?" the Commander asked and let out a relived sign when the Gith nodded, "Than activate it and get us out of here before the Ray Cannon can fire again! Shakuras is lost for us!"

When no one protested – apparently even Crovax was smart enough to realize that staying here would be suicide – Gix leaned back in his chair and started to plan his revenge.

- - - - -

Panopticon, transport chamber

John was drenched in sweat when he arrived at the transport chamber with Teyla on his heels and made a mental note not to neglect his training anymore. Desperate to reach the controls and to get back on Shakuras, he almost tripped over Belbe's unmoving form that was lying on the floor right in front of the transporter.

Apparently, the Necroshade was conscious but completely unmovable so John guessed that she had an unpleasant encounter with a Wraith stunner. Somehow she seemed to have resisted part of the blast though he wondered if being conscious and helpless wasn't even worse than being unconscious and helpless. Her eyes – which seemed to be the only functional part of her body – lit up with hope when she recognized the visitors, flashing John what could be described as a quit-staring-like-an-idiot-and-get-me-out-of-her look.

Resisting the temptation to make a snide comment about her current situation, he picked her up and gently placed her on the transporter before being interrupted by McKay's voice:

"We're at the Gate," the scientist stated sounding not too relieved about this, "Listen, I don't want to put pressure on you but it's quite creepy here and I'm getting nervous when my only protection is a drug addict so it would be great if you could hurry up!"

John activated the communicator and was just about to tell McKay to get a grip when the scientist's voice was replaced by the voice of his former second-in-command whose voice sounded not at all comforting.

"Drug addict? That's not a very nice thing to say, McKay," Ford said, a dangerous edge in his voice, "Now the two of us will have a nice friendly chat about Atlantis and you won't need that for it!"

"Ford, what the hell are you…" the astrophysicist managed to say before the connection was broken.

"Damn!" Sheppard swore, "We better hurry up, Teyla, Ford is acting like a maniac again!"

Without further delay he activated the transporter and felt the already familiar sensation of getting dematerialized, transported and put back together on the destination. However, instead of any empty room about a dozen Gith awaited them, weapons drawn and pointed on them.

"You're under arrest for conspiracy, trespassing and murder!" one of them said, "Drop your weapons and don't try any tricks!"

The word that came into John's mind while dropping his weapons was 'crap'.


	6. Objects im motion

A/N: After more than a month of excruciating slow progress due to various exams that demanded my whole and undivided attention, I've finished the final chapter of Myths of Reality which is my early Christmas present to you.

Chapter 6: Objects in motion

_ Continuity, the sixth myth of reality;  
change is the only constant in life so  
only the adaptable will prevail!_

_The nature of reality, Gith database_

"Listen," John said, hoping that the Gith wouldn't execute him at once, "It's not what it looks like!"

"Oh sure," one of his captors said, "We have reports that Panopticon is under attack, Evincar Crovax is missing, you teleport into our mid with weapons draw and a high-ranking officer hold captive but it's not what it looks like? You're one of the worst liars I've ever met!"

"You only think that I'm a bad liar because I'm telling the truth!" John replied, though he guessed that trying to reason with the soldier was pointless, "And we didn't hold Belbe captive but tried to help her!"

"He speaks the truth," Teyla added, "We found her on our way out of Panopticon and decided to take her with us to a place where she would be safe. We don't know who has stunned her and if she could, she would confirm our report!"

The Gith shot them a do-you-think-I'm-stupid-enough-to-buy-this-lousy-story look and started to say something only to be interrupted by the activation of the Door to Nothingness and the arrival of the last person John had expected to come to his aid. All Gith who weren't busy with threatening him dropped to one knee as soon as Veldrin had completely materialized and Sheppard started to wonder if the streak of bad luck that had gotten him into this situation and seemed determined to make his life a living hell, had finally ended for as new Evincar his unloved ally wielded enough power to get him out of this mess with a few well placed words.

However, his hope was replaced with worry and cold fury only a few seconds later because the former Highexecutor flashed him an icy smile and actually seemed to enjoy watching the Colonel's predicament. More than a little worried, John wondered if Veldrin would have him captured and perhaps even executed for his defiance, after all there was no love lost between them and the Gith had shown more than once that he had no scruples when it came to dealing with enemies or securing his position. Besides he still owned his fellow Gith an explanation for the events of the last hours so it was possible that John would become his scapegoat and take the blame for the coup.

After a few excruciation moments of silence, the Gith that had interrogated him spoke up, interrupting his dark musings:

"Greetings Highexecutor, we're glad to find you alive and well. We have reports about an attack on Panopticon and have arrested those intruders when they tried to escape. What happened and what are your orders?"

"I want you to search the city as well as Panopticon and to arrest every Lifestealer you find," Veldrin replied, his face grim, "They and Commander Gix have started a coup and either killed Crovax or taken him captive. They tried to destroy Panopticon but I managed to charge the Ray Cannon and forced them to retreat!"

"Of course, Highexecutor," John's captor's replied, a hint of insecurity in his voice, "Should I bring the intruders to the stasis cells then?"

"These 'intruders' have been crucial when putting down Gix' conspiracy and getting imprisoned is not what I have in mind for them," Veldrin stated, surprising everyone else in the room, "I'll give you the details later Negator, now I want you to release them and take Necroshade Belbe to the infirmary. As soon as she's up and running again, she'll help you hunting down the remaining Lifestealers."

The soldier's face was inscrutable when he handed John his weapon, causing the Colonel to wonder if they actually believed Veldrin. Personally, he would be more than suspicious if his CO would order him to release some armed prisoners without a proper explanation but after all he wasn't a role model for a soldier and had no idea if the Gith were used to getting left in the dark by their superiors.

Anyway, none of them objected and they quickly scattered, some using the Door to Nothingness to enter Panopticon while others headed back into the city. One of them had Belbe slung over his shoulder – to the Necroshade's obvious displeasure who apparently hated getting transported in such an undignified way – and probably headed towards the infirmary while the rest followed the order they had been given and started to search the city. However, the guard that had interrogated John earlier seemed hesitant to leave them and only got moving when Veldrin flashed him some hand signals that probably meant 'get moving'.

As soon as they were alone, Veldrin left the room and motioned them to follow him, wasting no time with explaining what this was about. Not as easily satisfied than his Gith subordinates, John caught up with him and asked him were they were going.

"The Stargate of course," the Evincar stated dismissively, "We have a bargain after all!"

"Yeah but I didn't expect you to let us go," Sheppard admitted, "I contradicted you all the time and this would have been the perfect opportunity to pay me back."

"Don't think I haven't considered it," Veldrin responded with his typical icy smile, "But I have an offer to make that could be very rewarding for both of us and your freedom is a token of trust. Besides, if I had you arrested you would have told everyone that Belbe and not the Lifestealers started the coup. Not that members of the Legion would put your word over mine, but such rumors could be very dangerous in the current, unstable situation!"

"Don't worry, we'll keep your secret," John assured, deciding to play along in this sudden game of we-are-nice-to-each-other – at least until he knew what the Evincar was planning –, "But I don't think they bought your story anyway!"

"Not necessarily," the Evincar stated, "It might be hard for you to understand but out of their point of view it made sense and was absolutely convincing. The official version will be that Gix allied with the Lifestealers, offering them complete control over Shakuras in exchange for their loyal service. I was just busy with arresting you when I heard about the coup and enlisted your help because I wasn't sure if part of the Legion supported the putsch and needed some reliable allies that had no reason to support Gix. As his prisoners, you were the perfect fit and together we entered Panopticon only to find Crovax' personal chambers deserted. Gix tried to destroy the orbital fortress to make sure that none of his rivals could claim the Ray Cannon but I managed to retrieve the Seal of Dominion and forced him to retreat! Belbe was stunned while searching Panopticon with you and you had this unpleasant encounter with the Enforcers when you headed back to the Gate to enjoy your regained freedom. I know that it is not the most inventive story but I'm sure it'll do its job."

"And by blaming the Lifestealers you eliminate your major rivals in the process," John added, impressed and worried at the same time by the Evincar's talent for intrigue.

"Exactly," the Gith responded, "I'm sure you realize that it's far more fun to work for me than to work against me and that you will keep this in mind when considering my offer."

"Ok, now you've got my attention!" Sheppard said, tired of this I-know-something-you-don't attitude, "What kind of offer are we talking about?"

"I'll tell you when we have reached the Gate!" Veldrin replied with a smile mischievous enough to be Belbe's, "I hate having to explain things twice so the rest of your team should be present when I fill you in. All I can tell you now is that it's one of the best and most generous offers I have ever made and that it would be wise to accept it!"

Somehow Veldrin's sudden friendliness disquieted John even more than the mixture of arrogance, cruelty and cattiness the Evincar usual displayed. He couldn't help but wonder whether he and his unloved ally had a similar understanding of what a gracious offer is.

- - - - -

Elsewhere

Lieutenant Ford sighed when the Gate shut down behind him, leaving him once again alone somewhere in the Pegasus Galaxy. A part of him regretted leaving his old friends behind while another part was still fuming about their – and especially McKay's – ignorance and constant attempts to trick or force him back to Atlantis. Aiden had always hated being manipulated and since he was taking the enzyme, he had become a lot more cautious with trusting other people for he expected them to cheat or backstab him. McKay had been stupid enough to test his caution and had experienced the consequences firsthand.

However, he couldn't deny that meeting his old team had made him feel even lonelier and lost in the vastness of this foreign galaxy than before. He missed having his team, his friends around him and was longing for some company – Belbe would also be a welcome sight right now, even it that meant he had to face whatever she had in mind for him. He just had to find a way to make them see the benefits of the enzyme and raked his mind for a way to convince them. He was sure that if the just tried the enzyme themselves, they would change their minds but he wasn't naïve enough to believe that this would happen.

Suddenly a truly brilliant idea hit him, a wonderful, outrageous idea that would change everything and solve two problems at once. The sweet feeling of triumph filled him and he was just busy with contemplating the details of the plan when sudden dizziness ended his euphoria by forcing him to lean against the DHD to avoid falling over. He guessed that the fight with Gix was now taking his toll and that he'd better find a safe place to rest before he dropped unconscious next to the Stargate. He remembered that there was a village nearby and decided to search there for a hot meal and a place to stay. As soon as he was fit again – what probably wouldn't take long thanks to the enzyme – he would work out the details of the plan that would make them see the truth.

- - - - -

Later, the gate roo

They walked the rest of the way in silence and John was completely lost in his thoughts which had the unpleasant attitude to center around betrayal of all kind. Dawn was approaching on Shakuras but the faint light did little to banish the shadows that still seemed to leer at him and the soft wind that had come up sounded more like dark whispers telling of the grisly fate of the trusting.

John tried but failed miserably to shake off his gloomy thoughts and came to the conclusion that the City of Traitors was even creepier in twilight than in the deep of night. He felt threatened by all sides, not only by Veldrin and whatever insidious plan he was hatching at the moment but also by Ford who had chosen the most inconvenient moment to change back into a paranoid maniac. Though he had no idea what the Lieutenant wanted to discuss with McKay but he was pretty sure that the scientist would say the wrong thing and get himself into serious trouble.

After what appeared to be an hour but was probably not longer than 15 minutes, they finally arrived at Shakuras' gate room and John's worries were confirmed as soon as he stepped into the vast hall. Rodney was lying flat on his back next to a wall which – judging from the blood stains on it – had made contact with the astrophysicist's head. While Teyla moved to the scientist's side, John searched the room for Ford but found nothing that indicated the Lieutenant's presence. Logic told him that the renegade Marine had disappeared through the Gate but in an act of almost childish defiance John refused to accept this unless he had sufficient proof An almost inaudible groan caused him to concentrate on McKay again and he sighed in relief when Teyla told him that the scientist probably had a concussion and some nasty bruises but was in no imminent danger both because Caldwell – and Elizabeth probably too – would have his ass if something serious would happen to Rodney and because Atlantis wouldn't be the same without the eccentric astrophysicist

"You okay, Rodney?" he asked, hoping that he scientist's injuries weren't more serious than Teyla had thought.

"Apart from the sudden and intensive impulse to murder this little bastard, I'm fine!" McKay responded, sounding angry enough to actually make his threat true, "What the hell were you thinking when you ordered me to go with him? I KNEW that it was a terrible idea but did you listen to me? Noooooo, you were too caught up in this no-one-gets-left-behind complex to listen to me and almost killed me with your stupid heroism!"

Anger welled up in John and he struggled to keep his voice calm when he answered, "What happened? And where is Ford?"

"Not here and that's all I care about!" the scientist snapped, "He disappeared through the Gate after – I'm quite aware that I'm repeating myself – almost killing me!"

Sheppard felt his worries confirmed and was too stunned to hear the rest of the scientist's retort. He had failed once again to save Ford from himself! Usually John was quite good in coping with failure but this ended as soon as lives were on stake which was definitely the case here for the kid would continue to waste himself with the enzyme and would probably die while hunting down Wraith for his next fix.

The guilt he had felt this morning returned with full strength and wiped every other thought from his mind. For a few moments nothing else mattered anymore, it was just him, Ford and his series of failures. The voice of reason and his military training told him to get a grip for he was still within the City of Traitors – which probably wasn't the right place to face your inner demons – but John paid them no heed. With his inner eye he saw Ford, trapped into a cocoon after one of his hunting trips had gone wrong, as well as a female Wraith who sucked the life out of him. In his vision he was standing right next to the Wraith, unable to move and he was sure that Ford glared at him accusingly before he perished. Fortunately, Teyla's voice shook him out of his stupor before his imagination became even more tormenting and he realized that he had been staring at the Gate for what felt like hours.

"Are you well, Colonel?" she asked, sounding worried, "You seem a little …distant."

"I'm okay," John was quick to reply, not wanting to discuss his feelings in public, "Do you have any idea why Ford did attack you Rodney?"

"Well apart from the fact that he is crazy.." McKay started before stopping suddenly and glancing nervously onto something right behind John.

Curious what might be able to stifle the talkative scientist when he was just about to curse a blue streak, Sheppard turned around and saw that Veldrin was currently playing with his daggers, having a rather irritated look on his face.

"As interesting as your conversation is," he said without taking his eyes from his whirling knifes, "I have an offer to make and would prefer it if you could finish this little discussion later."

John didn't knew how but the Evincar managed to make this innocent remark sound like a threat and playing with the very same daggers which had gutted his predecessor made this act even more convincing.

"Ok, tell us what you have in mind," he said, guessing it wouldn't be wise to test his ally's patience any longer.

"I'm sure that you remember that Belbe and I had a long discussion before we attacked the Door to Nothingness," Veldrin started, mirroring the mischievous smile John had seen on him earlier, "Of course, it was not about the best way to strike – we had discussed this much earlier – but what would happen to you if our coup was successful. Belbe wanted to form an alliance with you but I fully expected to betray us in the cause of the mission and didn't want any unreliable confidants. Then the Necroshade said something that made me discard my original plan – which was to kill you – and made the thought of an enduring alliance between our people far more interesting. After all as current inhabitants of Atlantis you might have resources that could prove invaluable for us!"

"You TOLD her that we are from Atlantis?" Rodney snapped, automatically addressing John much to the latter's confusion, "Really, why can't military guys control themselves when alien women are around? The army should consider castrating all their recruits right along, that would spare us a lot of trouble!"

"I just answered her questions about Ford so I could get the information to avoid getting us killed," John replied hotly, "She might have overheard us talking about Atlantis back on P3X475 and put one and one together! Besides, why do you think I'm responsible for this?"

"Because we have yet to meet an alien woman who couldn't twist you around a finger," McKay responded matter-of-factly, "Do you even realize how screwed we are? If the Wraith learn that Atlantis isn't destroyed.."

"They will return and bomb you into oblivion," Veldrin finished the astrophysicist's gloomy prophecy, "But don't worry we won't pass knowledge of your survival to the Wraith. They are our enemies and turning Atlantis over to them won't bring us any advantage. In fact, you are far more useful to us as allies for even though the Ray Cannon will destroy every Wraith fleet that threatens Shakuras, we can't defeat them on our own – at least not at the moment. So I offer you an alliance, together we can break the Wraith's rule over this galaxy once and for all!"

John considered this unexpected offer for some time, suspecting that the Evincar had conveniently left out several important details. He doubted that he would like working with the Gith but they could use some friends in this galaxy and Elizabeth would want him to push his personal feelings aside and at least consider allying with them. Torn between his instincts – which told him not to trust Veldrin – and his loyalty to Elizabeth he decided that it would be best if she handled this herself.

"Your offer is very generous but I have to consult my superior who is responsible for any kind of diplomatic negotiations," he said, hoping that the Evincar would accept this.

"Of course," Veldrin said smoothly, "Go ahead and inform your CO about my offer. Oh, one more thing: To make this bargain perfect, I want a ZPM as a token of trust from you!"

It took some time for the message to sink in and McKay was the first to realize what their possible ally demanded from them:

"You cannot be serious!" he said, "You want a ZPM in exchange for what? Being nice to us?"

John wondered whether using sarcasm was the right thing to do when dealing with someone as dangerous as Veldrin but he had to admit that McKay got a point: the Evincar's demand was outrageous and unacceptable.

"It's not like you're not getting anything in exchange for the power source," their would-be ally stated, "Our information about the Wraith could prove invaluable for you and together we might be able to find dozens of ZPMs! But I can't risk giving you this information without a guarantee that you won't abandon us once you have what you want, so I want something as useful and precious like a ZPM as security. Remember that this is a small price to pay for becoming the ally of a powerful empire that will break the Wraith's rule over this galaxy once and for all!"

"Why do you need a ZPM?" McKay asked, "Isn't your Ray Cannon powered by several of them?"

"Sure it is but we can't remove them without rendering our most effective defense useless," the Evincar responded, "The rest of the City of Traitors was originally powered by ZPMs but the Ancients stole them during the Extinction, so we have to rely on geothermic energy instead which is by no means as effective and reliable as a ZPM would be.

"No way Veldrin," John said, steel in his voice, "We need this ZPM ourselves and won't trade it with anyone!"

"Well, I didn't expect you to accept but I know another way to get what I want!" Veldrin said and suddenly several Gith soldiers stormed into the room, weapons drawn and ready, "Excellent timing, Negator! Be so kind and escort out guest to the stasis cells!"

"What's going on?" John asked, "We had a bargain you treacherous bastard!"

"Since you have declined my generous offer, I have to use the more radical way to get this ZPM!" the former Highexecutor stated, "So here's a new bargain: Your freedom in exchange for the ZPM. Drop your weapons and there will be no need for any permanent damage!"

While John concentrated on suppressing the sudden impulse to wipe the arrogant simile from the Evincar's face, he noticed that McKay was edging closer to one of the consoles, careful to move slow enough not to attract the Gith's attention. What the scientist was trying to do became obvious a few seconds later when the energy shield that he stopped them from reaching the Gate earlier reactivated, separating them from their captors.

"What? That's impossible! Get this shield down!" Veldrin yelled at his confused-looking subordinates, having lost all of his usual composure.

"How did you do this?" John asked Rodney who was just busy with dialing the Gate.

"I expected that something would go wrong and using this energy field to cover our retreat seemed like a good idea so I passed my time waiting for you with modifying the security systems," the scientist replied, "But hurry now, I have no idea how long this will last or if CMGs can penetrate it!"

After sending his id-code John ordered Teyla and McKay to get through the Stargate while he covered their six. Right when the scientist crossed the event horizon, the distinct sound of something hitting an energy shield got Sheppard's attention and he realized that the Gith were trying to shoot him with their CMGs but apparently the field was strong enough to block the projectiles – at least for the moment.

"This isn't over yet!" Veldrin yelled, "We'll meet again Sheppard and than I'll teach you a lesson you'll never forget!"

"Same back to you," John replied, amused by the Evincar's anger, "And don't worry, I'm a swift learner!"

Chuckling at the expression of pure outrage on Veldrin's face, he turned around and ran into the event horizon, glad that this horrible day was finally over.

- - - - -

Conference Room, Atlantis

"We dialed the Gate and got back here," John finished, "Veldrin seemed quite angry about being beaten in his own game."

They were sitting in Atlantis' conference room, looking exhausted and battered but glad to be home in one piece. Elizabeth doubted that their relive could match her own for she had bolted into the Gate room as soon as the first chevron had locked and had been dizzy with relieve when John's id-code had been identified. She had been tempted to hug him but had discarded the thought when the Gate room had started to fill for she had no desire to become the object of the city's gossip. Besides she was quite sure that Caldwell was only waiting for her to do something like that so he had a pretense of getting John replaced. So she had held her emotions in check and had scheduled a debriefing as soon as possible.

Beckett had wanted to examine them first but John had waved his concern off by saying that they were okay and that he would drop in as soon as he had explained what had happened. Now, Atlantis' inner circle was gathered in the conference room – including Bates and Caldwell who had invited themselves – and had spent the last 15 minutes with listening to John's report. Elizabeth's mind was swimming with information and she had to admit that the events of the past day had managed to make leading Atlantis even more complicated.

"I know it sounds pretty bad but I'm sure that we're quite safe at the moment," John said, probably realizing how disturbing this piece of news was, "We just have to watch out for unfriendly guys dressed in black."

"He has a point," McKay stated, "The Gith have other things to do right now than plotting against us. Their society is in upheaval and they have to recover from 10000 years of slavery under the Wraith which will keep them busy for the next time. Besides they have no ships so there's no way they can attack Atlantis as long as no one in here helps them. But I have to admit that – given enough time and resources – they have the potential to defeat the Wraith!"

"Are you serious about this?" Elizabeth asked, breaking the shocked silence that had filled the room after this revelation.

"Absolutely," the scientist replied, "They're Ancients after all – a twisted and more sinister version but still Ancients so unlike us they don't have to tinker with a technology which is far superior to theirs. Of course, part of the City of Traitors is destroyed and the Ancients have deleted part of the Gith database but that's only delaying the inevitable. I hate to admit it but there will be a Gith empire which commands an incredibly powerful weapon and holds a serious grudge against us!"

"If they are so powerful why did they want our help in the first place?" Caldwell asked, "What do they have to gain from allying with us?"

"Time," John said, "With our help they could overcome their current difficulties a lot faster and could concentrate on paying the Wraith back for enslaving them. They don't need us to win but with us they'll win way faster than without us!"

"And Veldrin wanted to find out whether working with us was worth the risk," Elizabeth concluded, "But you failed his test when you refused to give him the ZPM. I know you have done the right thing but we could have used some new friends."

"You must be kidding!" Rodney interrupted, "They are paranoid, violent and have the unpleasant habit of plotting against you! I guess we're better off without maniacs in our mid!"

"I disagree with Dr. McKay," Teyla said, "Not all Gith are as distrusting as Veldrin! Belbe for example seemed to be quite eager to ally with us and she has helped us a great deal during the last hours."

"She may be nicer than Veldrin but that doesn't mean that we can trust her," John responded, "She follows her own secret agenda and I think the only person that really matters to her apart from herself is Ford. Besides, I don't think that she will get rid of Veldrin anytime soon so the chances that we'll come to an arrangement with the Gith a quite slim."

"Speaking of Ford, where is he now and why didn't he return with you?" Bates asked, causing John to scowl at him out of some reason Elizabeth didn't know.

"As if you really care," he growled, "You only see him as a threat which has to be neutralized and either don't realize or don't care that he is a friend who need our help!"

"Unlike you I don't allow my personal feelings to cloud my judgment but that doesn't I don't want Ford back as much as everybody else on this base!" Bates snapped back, "You're angry because you failed again to bring him back and need someone to blame so you can look into a mirror without seeing the incompetent sucker you are!"

John looked ready to beat the crap out of Bates for this and Elizabeth decided it was better to intervene before the argument changed from words to other, more primitive ways, of solving a dispute. She wondered if the Sergeant had hit a nerve with his comment for Sheppard usually wasn't as short-tempered as he was now and if Ford's fate had hit the Colonel harder than she had thought.

"Get a grip, both of you!" she said, putting steel into her voice, "Arguing is not going to get us anyway and I can't allow that two important members of this expedition are coming to blows without any reason. Bates, you will pay the Colonel the respect he deserves and John, you will stop snapping at people who are just doing their job or I'll put you out of duty until Dr. Heightmeyer has found the reason for you sudden aggressiveness!"

"I'm not going to see a shrink only because I had a rough day and if you had any idea of how it feels to see a friend killing himself.." John started but Elizabeth had no intention to let him finish this sentence.

"I know how it feels to loose people, Colonel, probably better than you do!" she replied acidly, "Now be quiet before you say something you'll regret! Rodney, tell us what happened back there and why Ford attacked you!"

McKay didn't seem too eager to share this experience but a well-placed glare of Sheppard made him stifle the angry monologue that had started to unfold and give them the report they wanted

"Fine," the scientist said, "I was just busy with modifying the security system and speaking with Colonel Sheppard over radio….

- - - - -

_"Ford what the hell are you doing?" McKay asked when the Lieutenant turned off the radio, "And why do you want to talk with me about Atlantis?"_

_"I want to know if I can return there without being thrown into the brick as soon as I cross the event horizon!" Ford said, throwing the radio away, "I have no desire to become a human sized lab rat for you!"_

_"Why don't you talk with Teyla or Sheppard about this?" Rodney asked, feeling quite uncomfortable about this arrangement, "I'm sure they can tell you more about this than a scientist who hardly ever gets out of his lab!"_

_"Maybe but Sheppard can lie to me and Teyla can twist me around her finger but you can do neither," Ford stated with a wolfish smile, "Now answer my question: Is it safe for me to return to Atlantis?"_

_"Of course it is safe, we're your friends after all!" he said, hoping that the Lieutenant would like his answer._

_"And you won't force me to quit taking the enzyme?" Ford asked an expression of wild hope on his face._

_Rodney wondered if naïveté was another side effect of the enzyme for of course they would try to get him off the enzyme. Caldwell would probably have him arrested as soon as he rematerialized on the other side and no one, not even Sheppard who was still on his Ford-isn't-dangerous complex, would consider i not /i trying to wean him off. Telling the Lieutenant this, sounded like a really bad idea so Rodney guessed he had to test his rather limited talent in lying to get himself out of trouble._

_"I sure that Beckett will find a way for you to keep your superpowers and if you act normal no one should have a problem with that," McKay said, hoping that this would work better than last time, "Think of it: You can come back to Atlantis, keep you superpowers and I'm sure that Sheppard will take you back in his team – all you have to do is to come with us!"_

_"I was right: you really can't lie to me," Ford stated, the hope on his face changing to resignation to anger within seconds, "Why just CAN'T you see that the enzyme is the best thing that ever happened to me? It's so obvious that I'm stronger and faster than before, hell without it I would have drowned or frozen to death when I fell into the ocean during the siege! It's like blaming the personal shield you found for dampening your fall when Sheppard threw you from this balcony!"_

_"That's a lame comparison because the shield didn't make me act like a maniac!" Rodney snapped his temper getting the better of him, a grave mistake judging by the murderous expression on Ford's face. Rodney tried to get his gun out of its holster but the Lieutenant was quicker and snatched the weapon before grabbing him at the throat much like he had done with Beckett when the doctor had ordered him to return to the infirmary._

_"You didn't really think I would let you shoot me twice, did you McKay?" Ford snarled, "I guess I'll finish now what I started on Radiation Planet!"_

_The dangerous edge in Ford's voice sent a cold shiver down McKay's spine and the scientist had enough time to hope that the Lieutenant didn't mean what he thought he meant before Ford slammed him into a wall, causing everything to become fuzzy. He somehow felt Ford standing over him, aiming at him with one of his 9mils and waited surprisingly calmly for the end to come._

_After what felt like an eternity he heard Ford taking his gun down and moving away from him, followed by the sounds of a dialing Stargate. The scientist had no idea why Ford was suddenly sparing his life but at the moment he could care less because he was still fighting back unconsciousness and – judging from the sluggishness of his thoughts – loosing this battle._

_"I'm sorry McKay but you shouldn't have tried to trick me into coming back," he heard Ford whisper, "Greet everyone from me and don't worry I'll be fine – maybe even better than fine."_

_The last thing Rodney heard before passing out was the sound of him crossing the event horizon and the omnipresent, unsettling whisper that filled the City of Traitors, making him wonder if Colonel Sheppard would find him before the Gith did._

- - - - -

"Teyla woke me up later when she and Sheppard came back to the gate room," McKay finished, "Ford was gone by then and I have no idea to which planet he went."

"So we have lost him once again," Elizabeth concluded, feeling more than a little depressed about this. Losing the very same person three times in row was frustrating at the least and she had her fill of losses for about the next 20 years. Teyla and John looked similarly distressed while Caldwell seemed to be boiling with rage about something and Bates' expression was inscrutable.

"Well, I guess it's a good sign that Ford didn't kill you Rodney," John said, "Not only because competent astrophysicists are hard to come by but also because this shows that there is some of the old Ford left in him."

"That's beside the point," Caldwell hissed, "Ford is a serious threat for the security of this base and you have not only let him escape again but have almost gotten your whole team killed and compromised Atlantis' position to a race of former Wraith conspirators. Even for you that's an unusual amount of incompetence, Sheppard! If you had followed my orders and had subdued the Lieutenant when you had the chance…."

"We wouldn't be here for without Belbe would have captured as anyway and without Ford we would still be stuck in those dammed stasis cells!" Sheppard snapped back, "The Lieutenant is still my friend and there is no way I will kill him just because you don't care enough to even consider helping him!"

"I always knew that you were too reckless and irresponsible to run this mission but unfortunately not everyone shares this opinion!" Caldwell said with a pointed look into Elizabeth's direction, "So there's not much I can do about this besides hoping that your constant disobeying of orders won't get us all killed!"

Elizabeth stifled the rest of the argument by ordering John, McKay and Teyla to see Dr. Beckett and headed back to her office where she hoped to get some rest or at least some time without anyone dieing, getting missed in combat, getting stuck in the Stargate or getting hit by whatever fate had in mind for them today.

To her surprise, she managed to get back there without getting delayed by yet another catastrophe and when she sat down in front of her laptop, intending to translate another part of the Ancient database that could be anything from scientific notes to someone's diary, she felt more relaxed than she had the whole day. She wondered if this made her a workaholic but digging into 10000 years old knowledge was just far more entertaining than watching several military guys arguing with each other.

After translating a few sentences she felt her mind wander towards John and the very same issue she had avoided thinking about since he came back from Shakuras: the big enigma that was their relationship. Nearly loosing him had been terrible and the thought of never having told him about her feelings had tormented her the whole day and caused her to wonder whether she should tell him now to avoid coming into the same situation again. She guessed that this was the reason why her anger at him had completely passed and wondered if she would be as forgiving if someone else had questioned her empathy and feeling of responsibility that badly.

As much as she wanted to be with him, there were several good reasons why she shouldn't do so: First of all, he was her chief military advisor and she feared that a relationship between them would make working with him close to impossible as well as short-lived for Caldwell would almost certainly find out and have one of them – probably John – replaced. Also Atlantis needed a competent and rational leader who wasn't busy with sorting out her love life while yet another enemy had joined the picture. Elizabeth had never been a gambler and putting her heart on stake in these difficult times where a tiny mistake could alarm all Wraith in the Pegasus Galaxy sounded far too reckless in her opinion. She decided that she couldn't risk telling John about her feelings and wondered if this would be different someday.

- - - - -

"Ok Sheppard, you can do this!" John said to himself while standing on the gangway that led to Elizabeth's office, "You vowed to do this after all, so stop acting like a dammed teenager, go in there and tell her! Let's just hope that she isn't mad about what you said to her."

He had managed to escape the infirmary by telling Beckett that he had something important to discuss with Elizabeth and that he would come back later. He seriously doubted that the Scot had believed him but he had been too occupied with McKay – who was whiney enough when injured to drive everyone within a two-mile radius mad – to stop him. Perhaps it would be smarter to get his arm properly treated first but John knew that once he had getting started with doing so he would probably postpone speaking with Weir about his feelings forever. At first it had seemed fairly easy but right now he felt as nervous as a teenage boy who wants to ask the love of his life out – or so he thought because his first girlfriend had actually asked him out and spared him this usually embarrassing procedure. Apart from being jumpy he felt terrible for what he had said to her during the meeting and knew he owned her an apology for she was one of the best leaders he had ever met and hadn't deserved to be treated that way.

Feeling the glances of everyone who had enough timing to be in the Gate room right now on his back, he gathered all the courage he had and entered her office, trying to act as usual despite the fact that what he planned to say would probably hit her like a bomb. He decided that if she was attracted to him, he would follow his old principle 'screw the rules' and take her right on her desk, no matter what Caldwell would make out of this.

"Didn't I order you to go to the infirmary, John?" Weir asked, looking up from the laptop she had been typing on, "Perhaps I should also order you to stay there the next time you manage to get yourself almost killed."

"Hey, I even promised to come back later," John said, relieved that she didn't seem to be too angry about what had happened earlier, "I don't think Beckett believed me but he had been all busy with 80 kilo of whiny astrophysicist so I guess this doesn't matter. Got a minute?"

"Sure, I don't make much progress with this translation anyway," Elizabeth stated, "What is it?"

"Uh, I've got something important to tell you.." John started but got interrupted by McKay who stormed into the office, looking really excited about something.

"It is amazing," the astrophysicist said, "Zelenka just told me that he has decoded part of the Gith data I've brought from Shakuras and we've found out that the Ray Cannon's power source is virtually inexhaustible for it somehow manages to recharge the ZPMs that powers it while firing. I don't know how it works yet but that could be the way to recycle drained ZPMs we have been looking for…"

"That's fascinating Rodney, but I don't think Dr. Beckett has cleared you to work yet so why don't you go back to the infirmary and finish whatever test he wants to run?" Elizabeth replied, looking a little irritated by the scientist's sudden appearance.

"I don't like it but you're probably right," McKay said while turning to leave, "After all nothing works on this base without me correcting the other scientist mistakes so I should make sure that Ford didn't inflict any permanent damage to the brilliant mind that saved us so often. Well, I'll see you around then."

"I guess I should have a word with Carson about how to keep patients from leaving the infirmary prematurely," the expedition leader stated when McKay had left, "But what did you want to tell me Colonel?"

John really wanted to tell her but somehow Rodney's appearance had caused his courage to vanish and he just couldn't get the words out. Once again something stopped him from spilling his heart out and all he wanted now was to find a graceful way out of this mess. He raked his mind for something he could tell her instead but finding none, he decided to do something extreme. It was perhaps a stupid thing to do but it would help him getting out of this room without giving too much away and he had wanted to do it anyway so he threw all caution in the wind and leaned forward to kiss her.

Though it lasted not more than about 10 seconds, the kiss seemed to like an eternity to John who waited in vain for Elizabeth to kiss him back. When he broke it, he realized that the expedition leader goggled at him as if she couldn't believe what just happened.

"Sorry for snapping at everyone back in the debriefing," he said, feeling the sudden urge to give her at least some kind of explanation, "It has been a rough day and I was frustrated because I have failed to bring Ford back. You're always backing me up when Caldwell is trying to get me sacked and I shouldn't have questioned your skill as a leader, for you are the best CO I've ever had – and the sexiest by the way."

Elizabeth still seemed too shocked to reply but John guessed that this meant that she had forgiven him and decided to leave before she came back to her senses to avoid any embarrassing explanation. He told her that he would go back to the infirmary to let Beckett take a look at his arm and left the room before she could find a way to hold him back. Once outside he leaned back against a wall and wondered what he had been thinking to kiss her. Sure she hadn't struggled or pushed him away but he guessed that she would have if she hadn't been so surprised by his actions and if she had feelings for him, she would have followed him by now.

"Crap," John muttered, "I am so screwed!"

- - - - -

"To victory," Veldrin said, raising his glass.

"Victory," Belbe answered, finishing the toast and taking a sip of the strong Gith wine they were drinking.

They were sitting in Crovax' former throne room which had already been changed to suit its new occupants' – which would be Veldrin's – needs. The former Evincar had left most of his room bare which was a good thing in Belbe's opinion for the Wraith/human hybrid had had a hideous taste for furniture, adorning each piece with spikes which – judging by the faint stains of dried blood on them – had been used several times to impale whoever had fallen out of Crovax' favor at this moment.

Following his usual pragmatism, Veldrin had filled the room with the same items that had littered his old office in the Academy which stood in odd contrast to the massive, spiky throne that had remained unchanged, officially because the new Evincar didn't want to risk damaging it but Belbe suspected that he wanted a reminder of the victory he had won today, the very same victory he was just celebrating with her.

While she had lain in the infirmary, waiting for the feeling to return into her limbs, the Enforcers had searched the city for the remaining Lifestealers, either arresting or – if they resisted arrest – executing them on the spot. The survivors would soon be brought to an uninhabited planet whose DHD had been disabled and left there to rot, a surprisingly gentle punishment in her opinion but Veldrin didn't seem to share her profound hatred regarding the collaborators and probably considered this the easiest way to get rid of them. Crovax himself had somehow managed to escape Shakuras, much to the bounty hunter's displeasure who was longing for another fight with the former Evincar and had appreciated doing so without having to search the whole galaxy for him. To clam her nerves, she took another sip of the heavy wine and had to remind herself not to overdo it for Gith wine was one of the strongest alcoholic drink in this part of the universe, probably because Gith needed much more alcohol than other races to relax due to their inborn watchfulness that bordered on paranoia.

"I must admit I was surprised by your decision not to become the next Highexecutor of the Legion," Veldrin said, "Why do you want to remain a Necroshade when you could have more power as Highexecutor without having to strive through the many primitive worlds out there?"

"I prefer working alone and I can be more useful out there," she replied, "My many contacts on other worlds will be invaluable in our war with the Wraiths and I have to admit that I couldn't stand being on Shakuras all the time, I always have the impression that someone sneaks up to me! Other worlds may be more primitive but their inhabitants are by no means scheming enough to be any threat for me."

"Of course they aren't," Veldrin agreed, "The only real threat to us are the Wraith and the Lanteans but once I'm finished they will either be eradicated or part of the new Gith empire!"

"May I speak openly, Evincar?" Belbe asked, wondering if Veldrin would listen to what she had to say.

"Your are my second-in-command, fellow conspirator and most trusted advisor so you don't need my permission to speak," the Evincar said softly, "I think I already know what you want to tell me.

"We should have allied with the Lanteans instead of declaring war to them," the bounty hunter responded, careful to keep any traces of anger or accusation out of her voice, "They would have been a great help in our war with the Wraith and you shouldn't have demanded a ZPM from them as exchange for our help. I know that we could use additional power but together defeating the Wraith would be much easier. When I first told you about them, I expected you would be thrilled to find such a powerful ally in the coming war but it seems like I was wrong. Is your dislike of Sheppard important enough to take such a big risk?"

"My feelings regarding this insolent whelp are of no importance for my decision," her CO stated matter-of-factly, "You should know that there are no equal relationships, one partners is always the dominant one. The same is true for alliances and I wanted to find out what the Lanteans would give up for allying with us so I started with a truly outrageous claim to tell them that a bargain with the Gith is never cheap. If they had accepted it, I would have known that they could be coerced into servitude once the Wraith are finished and would have allied with them. But they have shone backbone and will now have to face the consequences!"

"What are my orders then?" Belbe asked, knowing that Veldrin had made up his mind so further arguing was pointless. Out of a long-term perspective his reasoning sounded solid but she had the nagging feeling that he was so focused on the time after they had defeated the Wraith that he risked loosing this war.

"I want you to get back out there and collect as much information about the Wraith as possible," the Evincar said after a few moments of consideration, "We need to know where they are, what they are doing at the moment and how well organized they are before attacking them in the open. Information about their ships is particularly interesting for out lack of ships is our greatest weakness and recycling their technology would greatly speed up the process of overcoming this disadvantage. Too bad that all information about Ancients ships have been removed from our database, things would be a lot easier if we didn't need to rely on savaging Wraith technology."

"That's quite a challenge," Belbe stated, "It will be outrageously difficult to sneak into a Wraith ship, hack into their computers and get the information you want!"

"That's why I'm sending my best agent," Veldrin said, smiling disarmingly, "Kill as many Wraith as you have to but avoid attracting too much attention. I want them to have as little information about our plans at possible until we are ready to strike. Oh, and should you encounter Sheppard or any other Lanteans, I expect you to treat them as you would treat a Wraith, regardless of whatever you think about my policy in this matter. Am I clear?"

"As glass, Evincar," she replied, not quit stupid enough to voice her real opinion. Veldrin might trust her at the moment but trust was a rare and fleeting thing on Shakuras so she would play along – temporarily at least. The former Highexecutor seemed satisfied with her answer and the conversation moved away to more casual measures what gave her the opportunity to contemplate what to do next.

She appreciated having finally the chance to make the Wraith pay for enslaving her and quite agreed with Veldrin's strategy to bring them down. However, despite her best efforts to prevent it, she and Aiden had ended up on different sides and she wondered how she would react if the Evincars' crusade against the Lanteans would force her to capture or even kill Aiden. Usually her choice would be clear but something she couldn't quite explain made her feel sick by the mere thought of hurting the Lieutenant.

This kind of feeling was completely new to her and she wondered when he had become that important to her. Physical attraction had caused her to sleep with him in the first place, combined with the unexplainable and foolish thought that she could somehow defy the Wraith by spending the night with one of their enemies. She hadn't thought much of him until Gix ordered her to capture him, causing her to feel an unexpected pang of regret. Nevertheless, she hadn't even considered not delivering him to the Commander until the use of a voidstone had forced her to return to Shakuras and had given her an opportunity to break free of her chains as well as to save his life.

While working with him, she had realized that there was more than physical attraction between them and – though she had no idea what exactly it was – this relationship was important to her. Her feelings were an important reason why she wanted to ally with the Lanteans and why she had rejected the position Veldrin had offered her. She knew that Aiden hadn't returned to Atlantis and was somewhere out there, killing Wraith to refill his supply of enzyme and that he would almost certainly get into serious trouble.

She felt that she owned him to watch his back because he had helped her to regain at least part of her freedom, the very thing she had given up to stay alive on Shakuras. Aiden had sacrificed his home, his friends and a great part of his sanity in order to survive and probably could use someone who made sure that he didn't get himself killed. She wasn't sure if she should try to get him off the enzyme for he felt pretty reasonable to her – perhaps because she hadn't known him until his addiction – and power was power after all. Deciding that she would leave this decision to him, she brought up her glass to a silent toast:

'To us Aiden, two survivors who are trapped on opposing sides'

A/N First of all I want to thank all my readers for being such a great audience, especially Tinuviel Udomiel for the huge amount of kind feedback she gave me, and my brother Felix "Mishra" Roth who agreed to be my beta reader despite his dislike of Stargate Atlantis fanfiction.

I'm planning to write a sequel taking place after the events of "the Hive" which won't be limited to being a missing episode. I can't tell you too much about it right now, only that you'll meet many familiar faces and not all of them will survive the story. I have no idea when the first chapter will be finished but I'll inform everyone who was kind enough to give me feedback when I up it. Speaking of feedback: I'm unsure whether I'll start every chapter with a quotation in the sequel like I did here so I'm asking you if you liked them for if you didn't I won't bother to make new ones for they're quite difficult to make up.

Anyway, merry Christmas and happy new year to all of you

PS: Twilight's Embrace, the sequel to Myths, is up now (also rated M).


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